The Cullen Girl
by evieeden
Summary: Left orphaned after a vampire attack, Bella is adopted into Dr Carlisle Cullen's 'vegetarian' family of him, his wife Esme and their sons Emmett, Edward and Jasper.
1. Prologue

_**Bella's family is attacked by vampires when she is young, leaving her the sole survivor. Rescued by Dr Carlisle Cullen, she is adopted into his 'vegetarian' family, consisting of him, his wife Esme and their three sons Emmett, Edward and Jasper. Struggling with her trauma, Bella finds herself developing special bonds with each of the Cullen boys.**_

_**This story has no Alice and Rosalie (or at least not as vampires or Cullens).**_

**Stephanie Meyer owns everything, I own nothing except the plot of this fic.**

**Lots of love to ms_ambrosia, my wonderful and everlastingly patient beta.**

* * *

**The Cullen Girl – Prologue**

I ran.

I ran as fast as my legs could take me. It was the only thing I could do. The body's natural flight or fight instinct kicking in. I had tried fighting. That didn't work, it just hurt.

As if it was only waiting for the reminder my leg throbbed, nearly buckling underneath me. I didn't know how much blood I had lost at this point but I knew the wound was deep. The woman, Victoria, had made sure it was so. I could still see her now. Pale and ghostly skin with a vibrant flame-red mane. Her nails had cut through my skin like scissors through tissue paper – minimum pressure causing maximum damage.

She wasn't able to finish the job though. Her disappointment at being forced away by the two males was palpable. The three of them had hurried grabbed their scant possessions before they left, hardly any of their hissed mutterings meeting my ears.

"... run... guard... Volturi..."

As my blood had begun to pool on the dirt-strewn floor of the shack they had brought me to, I idly considered the notion that they were scared... Or maybe scared wasn't the right word.

_Terrified_. Yes, terrified was a better word.

I wondered if they were as terrified as I had been when they had broke into our quiet suburban detached house. Pulled from my slumber I had remained limp with sleepy incomprehension and terror as I was forcibly removed from my bed and dragged down the stairs to the sitting room.

My father, the esteemed police chief Charlie Swan, was already dead. Mauled by the looks of it, like the crime scene photos he had showed me of hikers attacked by bears and mountain lions. The pictures had been a carefully planned lesson, to keep me safe by making sure I didn't venture into the woods alone. I'd had nightmares about bears attacking for two months straight after that, but the lesson had had the intended impact – I could barely run cross-country in gym class now without having a panic attack.

But this was my house, painted red. It could no longer be my safe haven.

My mother Renee was still alive at that point. Catching sight of me in the grip of one of the males she had tried to claw her way across to me, " Bella... Bella baby... don't touch my baby! Please, not my baby!" Victoria had laughed then, high-pitched, manically. The second male, a dirty blond, had chuckled too at my mother's anguish before swiftly bringing his foot down on the back of her neck.

The crack of her spine was the loudest sound I've ever heard, resounding across the room and vibrating up my body until I was trembling with the force of it.

I tried to scream, I really did. But my voice wouldn't listen to me. Silent tears streaming down my face and dripping off my chin I managed a tiny squeak, barely a noise at all.

All three of these... intruders, these murderers, began to laugh now – taking pleasure in my distress. The one holding shook me slightly in time with his mirth before launching me across the room to land in a heap in the corner.

Before my eyes fluttered shut I saw all three converging on my mother's body, the blond yanking her lifeless wrist to his mouth before he sunk his teeth into her skin, and darkness descended.

When I woke later it was in the shack, the darkness of the room not concealing my dead parents' faces from my mind's eye.

I was to be a snack, it was explained. Heaven forbid they go hungry, and they couldn't venture into town any longer; they had already drawn too much attention to themselves by killing the police chief, his wife and presumably their daughter.

I had tried to escape, but they were strong and fast. I only ever ended up in pain, cuts and bruises littering my skin. I tried to barter with them, my freedom for my silence, but even if I wasn't a convenient food source it wouldn't have happened. I knew what they were...

..._Vampires_...

... I wasn't allowed to live now.

The one other time they had left the shack I had tried to climb out the window. I had landed on my wrist, breaking it, my cry of pain alerting them to my plot.

But now they were running... and I was too. I only hoped I was running in the opposite direction.

My bare feet were ripped to shreds by the stones, thorns and branches underneath them; my pyjamas were torn in places, exposing my skin, in the pitch black of the woods I was stumbling around, crashing into and through every obstacle; branches of trees split my face open, the cuts and gashes merely adding to the blood already pouring out my calf.

Hysteria threatening, I stopped for a moment. Everything hurt. My lungs were burning fiercely as my sobs broke through my heaving breaths.

I couldn't stop for long though, I had to keep running. If I stopped I had the suspicion that I wouldn't be able to start again.

A greyish light broke through the claustrophobic blackness of the trees and I headed blindly towards it.

The trees barring my path thinned and then stopped; the branch-strewn dirt floor making way for gravel.

_A road_.

Any excitement however was quickly quashed by the realization that this was probably a route winding through the forest in one of the remotest parts of Alaska. _Who would come to rescue me?_

No one would. I was alone and lost once again, my fleeting hope scattered to the wind. Shuddering with the cold that suddenly permeated my clothing I hunched over, my broken wrist clutched against my chest, blood smeared across my body, trying to curl myself into the smallest ball imaginable.

I could feel my mind wandering, protecting me from the reality of my situation. A misty fog settled over my head, insulating me from all sound and feeling.

I guess that's why I didn't see the car's headlights... Or hear the engine stop and the doors open.

I did feel the arms that picked me up effortlessly though. The cold arms that grasped me to a similarly chilled chest... And I knew. It didn't happen.

I hadn't escaped.


	2. I Know What You Are

**Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favourited and story-alerted this fic. I really do appreciate it.**

**Once again I own absolutely nothing except the plot (so don't steal that). Love and hugs to ms_ambrosia the bestest beta in the whole wide world.**

* * *

**I Know What You Are**

**EPOV**

Emmett was pissing me off.

"Hey Eddie, why didn't you take good old Cassie for _a spin_ today? She sure looked eager for a _ride_." Innuendo laced every sentence thrown at me – nothing compared to the images in his head which accompanied his words.

Jasper sniggered in response, never taking his eyes off the infomercial currently playing on TV. _Great, now it's two against one._ I cursed the day Cassie Reynolds had decided to focus all her efforts on getting me to go to prom with her. It wasn't the thought of attending a school function that repelled me however, so much as the additional... _activities_... that she had planned in her mind to follow after.

And she wasn't the only one thinking it, though she had been the only one daring enough so far to brave my unnaturalness and approach me. Unfortunately she had also chosen to do so in full view of her friends (for moral support and feedback), half of the school's cafeteria and Emmett. I was never going to live it down.

"Maybe you could check later and see what's under her _bumper_. Or does she just not get your _engine _going?"

My brother – the comedy genius.

Approaching me with seemingly innocuous questions regarding the condition and running of my Volvo – hence Emmett's new-found love of motoring innuendos – Cassie had then proceeded to sidle close enough to pin my body to the metal food counters before informing me, in I'm sure what she considered to be a sultry voice, that I was to accompany her to the formal and pick her up at 6.30 for the event.

Using a fraction of my strength to push her away from me, I had muttered an excuse and fled the room, leaving the other students buzzing with gossip, and Emmett rolling on the floor with laughter behind me.

Throughout the rest of the day I had had to endure spoken and mental teasing from both brothers regarding the incident, including Emmett announcing to Esme upon our return from school that "Eddie has a girlfriend now, Ma."

I then had to recount the entire story to my adopted mother, wincing inwardly when I saw the look of expectation enter her eyes, immediately dismissing her unspoken hope that I had finally found a girl that I was interested in. It hurt to know that she thought there was something wrong with me, even though I knew it was a common concern amongst my whole family.

"Perhaps she just needs you to pump some..."

"I'm going hunting," I announced, interrupting Emmett in full flow of his next crack. Heading out to said Volvo in question I briefly considered that he hadn't yet made any comment on steamed-up windows, but then I hadn't given him a chance to.

Getting out onto the main highway I opened up the engine and pressed down on the gas. I loved driving fast, and more importantly I loved driving fast away from Emmett. Don't get me wrong, I love my brothers, but sometimes it's almost impossible to live with them.

Going even faster I briefly considered stopping the car by the side of the road to have a quick hunt, it had been a couple of days and the hunger was beginning to make itself known; I had pushed Cassie away as much for her sake as I had for mine.

Rounding a corner at illegal speeds I noticed a small lump by the side of the road about a mile ahead. As I slowed the car down, my eyes took in the sight of a small girl curled up in a ball with one leg still stretched back towards the encroaching forest. I killed the engine.

What was anyone doing here? This road only led to an old disused mine, the closest inhabited property nearby being our house. We revelled in the isolation, but if this girl stayed here indefinitely it would kill her.

She was wearing pajamas I noted, with no shoes. Her hair was tangled and looked like half the forest was encased within it. She was trembling faintly, with what I assumed was the cold, and if I listened carefully I could hear her heartbeat slowing, her breaths becoming more and more shallow.

_Hypothermia_, my medical knowledge provided. This girl was going into shock.

Spurred into action, I opened the car door, intent on delivering her into Carlisle's care at the hospital.

... and then the scent of it hit me.

Blood. Lots of blood. The sweetest blood I had ever smelled. Lavender and freesias all encased within this tiny little girl.

Or not encased at all. Splashes of bright red littered any available skin with more soaking through her clothes. My eyes were enraptured by the sight of her extended leg, the deep tear through her calf and that precious blood beginning to pool and congeal underneath it. I could just imagine the taste, rich and addictive... And it could be mine. I could almost feel the smooth liquid running down the back of my throat. I wouldn't even have to bite down to get at it. All I would have to do was go over there and put my mouth to that brightly glistening slash; the blood would just trickle through my lips.

_Take her_, my mind whispered to me, any thought of providing help and assistance wiped clean by that intoxicating scent.

I lurched one foot unsteadily forward, the steel of the car door whining in protest as my hands contracted around its frame.

_It's an abandoned road. No one's going to find you. No one will know. _Releasing the door my foot staggered forward again, my body lowering itself into a crouch, lips drawing back over my teeth as I softly snarled. _Smell that blood. You can't turn that down. No one will know_.

Except they would know.

My body froze, unwillingly to move further forward until my brain had deciphered this latest information, something surprisingly difficult to do with the scent of my own personal ambrosia just a few feet away.

They would know. They... Carlisle, Esme, Jasper and Emmett. They would smell what I had done. They would see it in my eyes. They would know. What would they think if they knew?

I cocked my head as I tried to rationally answer this. I didn't think Jasper and Emmett would care, they would understand. Everyone slips up from time to time, don't they? Esme would probably be upset at the loss of a human life, but she would understand as well. She loved us all too much to not understand.

Even Carlisle would understand; just as he'd understood when I went through my rebellious stage.

But he would be disappointed. He wouldn't say he was, but I would be able to see it, to feel it, in his heart and his mind. He would be disappointed – and I couldn't do that to him again.

I eased myself slowly out of my crouch, although my lips stubbornly refused to ease back over my teeth. I wouldn't feed; I couldn't let Carlisle down like that. But I might have to anyway.

Whilst I had already fought my instincts and decided to not feed on this delicious-smelling human, I didn't yet know whether I could save her. Getting her to safety, the hospital and Carlisle's care, would involve getting closer. I would have to pick her up, carry her to the car. Her blood would be so close; I would be able to see it, smell it, touch it. It would be hard to resist tasting it too. I would have to endure a car ride with her, the enclosed space filling with her luscious aroma, permeating the car, the seats...

Me.

If I was that close how I could I refrain from feeding? How could I not want to saturate myself completely with that precious fluid?

But I would have to; there was no other choice. As much as I couldn't let Carlisle down by feeding on this girl I also couldn't leave her here to freeze. Either way I would be condemning her to certain death. Either way I would let my father down; he wouldn't have left her here.

After what felt like forever, but had actually been just a few seconds, I walked slowly forwards, trying to breathe as little as possible. The girl's shaking had grown more pronounced in this time, her body slowly beginning to shut down. Apart from her bleeding leg – _don't think about it, don't think about it_ – I could also see that she was cradling one of her arms to her chest – _broken or sprained possibly?_

Taking one last deep breath to ground myself, briefly letting the heady scent intoxicate me, I scooped her up in my arms. She immediately stiffened, the shaking stopped, and surprisingly her heartbeat and breathing sped up uncontrollably. Half a minute ago this wraith had been half-dead, and now as soon as I picked her up she was suddenly revived?

Shaking my head I wished I had a hand free to pinch the bridge of my nose. These reactions of hers were puzzling me. Quickly moving to the car, I deposited my precious bundle into the passenger seat of the Volvo, winding down the window before shutting the door behind me.

Making my way round to the driver seat, I quickly inhaled the fresh air before venturing into the car. Winding the window on my side down, I started the engine, fishtailing around before accelerating. I had to get to the hospital as fast as possible.

Hearing a moan, I glanced over towards my passenger, and then started unexpectedly.

She was staring straight at me.

**BPOV**

I held my breath in fear, only to find myself placed in the seat of a car. Scooting backwards against the door, I wondered why my captor wasn't taking advantage of the free-running blood available. As the door opposite me opened I froze, trying to steel myself against what was coming next.

He was gorgeous, but then he would be, wouldn't he? They all were. Too bad the monster inside wasn't half as beautiful. Without the light I couldn't make out many details, but his hair appeared to have a bronze tint to it, and his profile looked well-defined. His whole frame was notably tense and his fists were gripped so tightly around the steering wheel that I was surprised it hadn't crumbled into pieces. As the car spun around my wrist jarred slightly, causing a small moan to escape my mouth.

His head shot up, eyes snapping to mine and I froze again. I couldn't look away; his eyes studied mine curiously and I felt held in place by some unknown force I couldn't define. I abstractly noticed that the colour was darkened, nearly pitch black.

_Hungry then._

Again I wondered why I wasn't dead yet. Maybe he was going to keep me as a snack as well. I guess I was just perfectly bite-sized. That idea sent me off into a fit of nervous giggles, causing my beautiful murderer to frown confusedly. I probably looked crazy to him. Maybe this was the final straw and my brain had finally cracked; everything pressing down upon me leaving my sanity shattered.

"Why can't I hear you?"

I stared at him with complete incomprehension. Why was he talking to me? Shouldn't we just be getting straight to the eating. "What?"

The vampire sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Why can't I hear you?" he repeated. Again I just stared at him; if he couldn't hear me then why did he just reply to me?

"Your mind! I should be able to hear your mind. Why can't I hear you?"

"I don't know," I stated rather rebelliously. If I was going to die at this creature's hands I saw no point in being polite. "Maybe I don't have anything left in my brain worth saying."

He smirked slightly at that, the corner of his mouth lifting up, and I found myself fascinated by this action.

His eyes left mine to glance briefly at the road, releasing me from the thrall they had held me within, and I lowered my gaze to avoid getting caught up again. I idly noticed that my wrist and leg were now throbbing in tandem, making me wonder when I was going to be put out of my misery.

"I'm Edward."

Refusing to look up, I nodded slightly at this information, though it would make no difference to me in the long run.

Provoked by my lack of reaction he sighed heavily before trying again. "What's your name?" he prodded.

"Bella," I conceded, noticing the pointlessness of not answering. "Bella Swan"

"Bella," he repeated, as if memorising it. "Why are you in the middle of the woods, Bella Swan? Where's your family?"

I inhaled sharply, the pain of losing my parents hitting me anew. My body began trembling even more violently before, and I noticed the vampire – Edward – staring at me with concern. This annoyed me. A vampire that wanted to kill me was now acting concerned because I was upset that other vampires had killed my mom and dad.

"I know what you are," I bit out accusingly. The concern changed to surprise, and I was sadistically pleased that I could provoke this reaction. "I know what you are. I know what you can do."

He didn't reply but his jaw was clenched tightly. Could vampires grind their teeth down to stubs? This time I held in the hysterical laughter that threatened to erupt.

"And what do you think you know?" he questioned, the tone of his voice carrying his sneer across the car to me.

"I know you're a vampire," I replied defiantly. "I know what you want from me. I know you're going to kill me. I know you're a monster."

If I'd expected my declarations to be met with anger, I was going to be disappointed. I didn't receive the angry snarls I expected, instead a sardonic chuckle reached my ears. So quietly that I thought I almost imagined it I heard his reply, "I know I'm a monster too."

Disconcerted by this statement I chose not to answer, huddling back further into the corner of my seat instead. Beginning to take note of our surroundings I observed that we were now driving through what appeared to be a sparsely-populated residential area. More and more streetlights were lining the roads to wherever we were going. It looked like we were headed straight for the centre of this town.

Curiosity got the better of me. "Where are we going? Wouldn't it be easier to dispose of my body outside in the forest?"

The vampire, whom I refused to call by his name, was sporting a look of concern again. "You sound very calm when discussing your own death. Why is that?"

I shrugged, not wanting to get into the details. My mind was beginning to fog over again, railing against the stress I was feeling, protecting me from the reality of my situation, and I wasn't sure that I would be coherent enough to answer out loud... Or that I would want to. I had learnt my lesson from last time; talking to these creatures wouldn't get me anywhere.

The metallic taint of my own blood in the air was increasingly making me feel sick, and I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, trying to fight back the dizziness which threatened to overwhelm me.

"I'm taking you to see my father," the vampire's melodic voice broke through my awareness. "He's a doctor at the hospital in town. He'll be able to treat you there." I shook my head, which was feeling increasingly heavy, as his words drifted in and out of my conciousness. I could have sworn I heard him say that he was taking me to a doctor. Which was plainly ridiculous.

His voice was fading into the background to be replaced by a persistant buzzing sound in my ears, although I'm sure he was still talking to me.

The buzzing increased, drilling into my brain, and I welcomed the encroaching darkness that was shutting off my senses. It was far less complicated than this vampire.

Everything was far less complicated than this vampire.


	3. The Good Doctor and his Wife

**Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and favourited this. It's nice to know you're enjoying it.**

**Lots of love and hugs to my fantabulous beta ms_ambrosia for working her grammatical magic.**

**If anyone's interested The Cullen Girl has a thread on the Twilighted forums under the AU section and I'm on twitter as well.**

* * *

**The Good Doctor and his Wife**

**CPOV**

Isabella Marie Swan.

I recognised her of course; it would have been hard not to. With her father being the chief of police, her parents' deaths were high-profile enough to have garnered media attention throughout the state. The mystery of the Swans' missing daughter, even though she was also presumed dead, was splashed across the front page of every newspaper and TV station in Alaska.

The crime was also noticeable enough to have attracted the unwanted attention of the Volturi. The nomadic vampires culpable had murdered enough people in such a short space of time to have put the awareness of our species at risk. Charlie Swan and his wife had been the last straw.

Only last night, select members of the guard had ventured into our territory to deal with the problem. I had received an unexpected visit before I left for my night shift at the hospital to inform me that the nomads had been taken care of, and to remind me of the penalties faced by me and my family should we draw any more attention to our kind.

The girl was presumed dead, buried somewhere in the woods which had surrounded the shack that the rogue vampires had inhabited. If it was thought that she was still alive, the consequences for her would be deadly; no human was to know of our existence. To know was to sign your own death warrant. It was hard to believe that Isabella would not have learned our secret given her experiences.

I had accepted the Volturi's assumption; Isabella Swan must be dead. If she hadn't been killed by her captors, the harsh extremes of the Alaskan wilderness would have finished the job.

Yet here she was, unconsciousness in the passenger seat of my son's car, whilst the son in question paced the sidewalk next to the Volvo, inhaling great gulps of the chilled air and practically tearing his hair out from its roots.

"What's going on Edward? Where did you find her?"

Edward stopped his pacing to stare up at me, and I nearly flinched at the sight of his half-manic eyes. They were pitch black, although they shone suspiciously brightly for the colour, and appeared incredibly wide and almost feverish in their intensity. Edward himself appeared flushed, despite not having fed for several days, and jittery, his fingers twitching agitatedly, his hands unable to keep from his hair for long. If I didn't know better I'd say he was high.

"I found her... I found her... On the side of the road. Just lying there... And the blood... Oh god, the blood, Carlisle," he ranted almost too quickly for me to understand. "Have you ever smelt anything like it...? I nearly..." At this point he stopped himself, clearly unwilling to admit to his desire for this human. But why would he want her? Aside from his rebellion seventy years ago, Edward had never shown any particular inclination for human blood beyond the ordinary urge that all of us suppressed.

"Are you saying that this girl's blood smells more...," I struggled to find the right word, "...enticing, than any other's."

"It was so hard," he began quietly, "to bring her here without... But I couldn't. It wouldn't be fair. To her. To you. To any of the others. I couldn't let any of you down like that."

Struggling to make sense of any of this, I decided to get back to basics. The panic that had welled up when I first received the desperate phone call from Edward hadn't yet dissipated and I needed some answers. "Edward, do you know who this is?"

His eyes darted to mine and then away again. "She said her name was Bella Swan. I thought... I thought that maybe if I talked to her, remembered she was a human... someone with a family... that she wouldn't seem so much like...," he cut off his confession there, staring resolutely at the concrete, not meeting my eyes.

Stepping forward, I encased him in a hug. My poor boy; he truly suffered over what he had become, what I had made him. He felt everything so keenly, unable to rationalise his emotions and needs like the pragmatic Jasper, nor able to shrug off his mistakes and slip-ups like the carefree Emmett.

And I was about to ask more of him.

"Edward, she can't stay here."

His eyes jerked up to mine, burning a questioning path through my mind. I opened it freely to him: the news of the Swans' deaths, this _Bella's_ true identity, the nomads who had cut such a bloody swath through this region, and the Volturi.

"A hunting party?" he questioned.

I nodded slowly. "To get rid of a problem, which Isabella is now a part of."

He considered this for a second. "She told me that she knew what I was," he whispered. "They would kill her for that, wouldn't they?"

Although I knew Edward was just stating the truth, rather than asking a question, I still felt compelled to reply. "I don't even think we can take her into the hospital. The staff would recognise her too easily and once she's registered as an inpatient they'll come for her. Make sure she stays silent."

"What can we...?"

I sighed heavily, my mind working at lightning speed, analysing every option available that would keep Isabella Swan safe, receiving the medical treatment she needed, whilst keeping my family out of trouble and under the notice of the Volturi.

"Take her home, Edward," I came to my decision. "I'll make my excuses here and then return to the house. It might be an idea for you to phone ahead; get Jasper and Emmett to go hunting, away from the blood."

"Carlisle," my son's eyes were burning again. He shook his head frantically, his hair bearing the brunt of his frustration once more. "I can't be in that car with her again. I just can't. Don't make me. I won't be able to stop."

"Well then, you wait out here for a few minutes whilst I sort out everything inside. Then you can drive my car back and I'll take Isabella," I agreed quickly, not wanting to prolong his anguish. I threw him my keys. "I'll be back as soon as I can." I hesitated slightly, not wanting to voice out loud what I'd been about to say.

But this was Edward I was talking to; I didn't need to speak out loud. The corner of his mouth turning up slightly was accompanied by a snort. "I'll try my best to resist," he promised mockingly.

I decided to be as quick as possible.

* * *

So here I was, driving a heavily bleeding human girl – along with a stash of purloined medical equipment – back to a house full of vampires. I dreaded to think what Isabella's reaction was going to be. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. I could only hope that Edward, who had overtaken me about five minutes ago, would be able to keep his bloodlust under control until he'd had a chance to go and hunt. With any luck he would have taken his brothers, the newest members of our family, with him.

My darling Esme should be able to cope with the thirst; we had hunted last night and she had always found it easy to resist temptation.

As I pulled the car into the garage she ran out to meet me and my unlikely passenger.

"Oh Carlisle, Edward told me what happened. Oh that poor girl. To lose her family like that, and to have to face the Volturi at the same time. Come, bring her in. The poor mite must be frozen." After all this time my wife's generosity and purity of thought never ceased to amaze. So, like any good husband, I did what I was told, situating Isabella into the spare room that Esme had already prepared for her.

"The boys...?" I prompted.

"They went hunting. I think Jasper didn't want to push his luck with all the blood around, and Edward... I've never seen him act like this before. Do you really think this girl's blood could be so enticing as to test even his control?"

"It appears that way. He was very adamant at the hospital that he not be left alone with her while she was bleeding." I pinched my nose, vaguely wondering whether this was a habit that I had picked up from Edward, or one of my own. I knew I was about to make life very difficult for him, for all our boys, but I couldn't see any other way.

"How do you feel about adopting a daughter?"

Esme gasped, staggering back a few paces, one hand clutched to her heart. "Keep her? Wouldn't it be best for her to grow up surrounded by humans? We could have them change her name, make sure they knew to keep her secret. I..."

I interrupted her. "Esme, she already knows about us. About vampires. Not only would it not be fair to leave her unprotected if the Volturi were to ever come back to make sure she's dead, it would also be unfair to just send her back out into the world, expecting her to lead a normal life when she knows what she does. Can you imagine how terrifying that would be? To constantly walk around, knowing the supernatural is real, and also knowing that if they were to find you you'd never be safe. The poor girl would spend her entire life watching over her shoulder, just waiting for the next attack." I suddenly felt exhausted. "Living in fear is no way to live, Esme. Surely you know that?"

My wife flinched slightly at the reminder of her past life before nodding. "Of course we can't leave her without protection, Carlisle. That would be too cruel." She sidled over to the bed where Isabella lay, gazing down at her, before brushing the girl's hair out of her face

"She's very beautiful, Carlisle. She doesn't deserve to be in this much pain."

My heart swelled at the obvious love and concern that Esme immediately began to display towards this child, before jumping as she snapped her fingers at me. "What are you waiting for? My daughter's injured here. Hop to it, Doctor."

She smiled indulgently at me, before turning back to the girl. "We're going to fix you up and then clean you up, darling," she whispered, continuing to stroke Isabella's hair. "And then we're going to take care of you."

I barely heard the murmur of her voice as I left to get my supplies out the garage, but one phrase stuck in my mind as I ran down the stairs.

"My darling daughter Isabella."

**EsPOV**

After Carlisle had set Isabella's wrist and tended to her superficial cuts, as well as sewing up the gash in her leg, I took advantage of her unconsciousness to bathe her. After all the dirt and debris was washed away, I briefly thanked God that she was healthy in appearance at least, and that the only damage to her body seemed to be from her visible external wounds. Isabella was thin, but not overly skinny, yet despite this I was determined that her nutritional needs would not be ignored whilst she was under our care. I was suddenly glad that Emmett, in his constant quest to alleviate his boredom, had ordered the complete package of cable channels. I was going to need to start watching the food programmes.

I inwardly squealed to myself. Whilst I loved my three sons dearly, I knew that they didn't really require me to fulfil the traditional role of mother towards them. They were perfectly capable of looking after themselves without me. But Isabella was human – a young human at that.

I knew it was entirely selfish to be happy at the situation; the poor girl had been through so much, losing her parents and now unable to go home or live her life as normal. But I would have a daughter, a child that I could properly take care of, who would rely on me to look after her. To...

"I know what you're thinking, Esme," Carlisle interrupted my thoughts. "I know you can't wait to mother the girl, but try to remember that she has just lost her real mother and father. She won't be in any position to accept either of us as replacements anytime soon."

"I know," I was ashamed to hear myself whine slightly. "But I just know that I love her already. I..." I hesitated, worry and fear for the times ahead clouding my mind. "I just... I just hope that sometime in the future, that she'll be able to love me too."

"Time and patience, my love. Time and patience." Carlisle opened his arms to me and I entered them willingly, grateful for the strength that they offered so freely. He began to lead me back towards the door and I resisted, not wanting to abandon the newest member of our family so soon.

"We won't go far Esme. I just want to make sure we're downstairs when the boys return home so we can discuss how this is going to work." I looked back at the sleeping Isabella. What if she needed someone to be there when she awoke? She would be so afraid. "She won't wake up anytime soon," he reassured me. "Those painkillers will keep her out for at least another couple of hours."

I followed him reluctantly, unwilling to leave Isabella, but ready and willing to begin discussing the finer details of the new life we were about to begin with our human daughter.

* * *

There was uproar naturally.

I don't think my boys were capable of having a civilised conversation, especially not when there was the possibility to talk over and interrupt each other. One of my coffee tables had already fallen victim tonight to Emmett's... enthusiasm.

Normally I wouldn't take sides... but I can't honestly say at that moment that I didn't think that Edward deserved it. He was strictly opposed to the situation and I received a glare, which I chose to ignore, for the direction my thoughts had just taken.

Edward had been... concerned at the prospect of living with a human, dual fears fighting within him over the problems she could cause regarding both his control and the Volturi.

Carlisle and I had already decided to make Isabella Swan's death a proven fact, rather than just a suspicion. A quick call to one of my husband's many contacts had provided us with both a wrongly-identified body – some poor girl who had perished in a fire at a known squatter's warehouse – and a falsified death certificate. Isabella Swan no longer existed. We had also decided to keep her presence at our house a secret until we were able to move on safely. Once we were settled again we would prevail upon Jasper to acquire the necessary documentation for our new 'adopted' daughter.

Our boys, with the exception of Edward, handled the news better than expected. Emmett was overly excited about the prospect of a new little sister. In his human life he had been the eldest of seven children, and had confided in me that from time to time he greatly missed the brothers and sisters that he had been forced to leave behind.

Jasper had been fairly non-committed in his response. He wasn't as enthusiastic about the situation as Emmett was, but wasn't against it in the same manner as Edward. He was willing to listen to myself and Carlisle and ask any pertinent questions that occurred to him regarding the situation, rather than just charging in making assumptions. My even-tempered child; he would do anything to ensure his family's happiness. I knew he would be able to feel the sheer contentment and pleasure that thrummed through my body at the expansion of our family.

"... all I'm saying is that I don't want to be responsible for another death, that's all. Please don't make me do this. I couldn't bear the pain of another murder upon my conscience."

Edward had been arguing the same point for the best part of half an hour now, and part of me felt bad that I was willing to cause him this much suffering in order to keep Isabella. He had yet to notice that he had been in close proximity to this girl twice now and had yet to take a snap at her.

"Chill bro, if you decide to go for her, Jas and I can stop you. Or do you really think that you would be able to get past both of us?"

Catching Carlisle's eye across the room I smirked at Emmett's proclamation, only to wince when he immediately decided to prove his prowess by challenging Edward to a fight.

"No wrestling. Not in the house, not in the garden," I interrupted. "If you want to kill each other you will do it far away from here where you can't destroy anything."

"Like you could beat me anyway, Emmett." Oh god, they were worse than two-year-olds. "I can read your thoughts remember."

"Oh well, I think we could handle it." And now my sensible son was in the mix too. Any minute now and I'm sure Carlisle would join in the baiting – he did have that glint in his eye.

"Alright that's enough," I demanded. "There will be no fighting and no arguing in this house." Everyone immediately stopped talking and stared in shock at me. I very rarely raised my voice to anyone, but felt compelled to make my point.

"Isabella is staying. That's already been decided and you will all make her feel welcome here as she's part of the family now. If any of you feel that you will need to hunt more in order to spend time in the house with her comfortably, then you will hunt more. I will not have complaining, or fighting, or snide remarks. End of story. Do you all understand?"

They all nodded hesitantly at me, even my husband. _I should try that more often_.

"Good," I declared. "Now that that's sorted I think we should discuss..."

But I never got to finish that sentence, as right at that moment an unearthly wail pierced through the room, stabbing through my very soul with its anguish.

Isabella was awake.


	4. Sinking Deeper and Deeper

**Once again thank you to everyone who reading, reviewing, favouriting and story alerting. It warms my cockles to know that people are a) reading and b) liking, so thank you all so much.**

**Just to answer a common question that's cropped up a couple of times: at this point in the fic Bella is 13, but she has a birthday soon and she will grow older pretty fast.**

**Love and thanks to my amazing beta ms_ambrosia who turns my rubbish into a beautifully written story. I own nothing but the plot, but I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't try to steal that (it's all I own).**

**Enjoy**

**Sinking Deeper and Deeper**

**BPOV**

The nightmares came swarming at me out from the darkness.

Subconsciously, I think I realised that I was safe and warm, the pain gone. But still the images came.

My mother's neck, bent at an unnatural angle that no living person could possibly mimic. Her face as she crawled towards me. The desperation that strained her eyes giving way to looseness as her mind stopped sending messages to her muscles. We had learned all about muscles and nerves and brain signals at school; seeing it actually work in real life was completely different, like a puppet with its strings cut.

My father's chest, clawed open, exposing ribs, lungs, intestines. I never knew that if you ripped someone open their insides would glisten and shine in the light. My father, the abstract puzzle. It was like I could only see what he truly looked if I scrunched up my face and squinted at the image the right way.

I whimpered softly to myself.

_Mommy... daddy... mommy... daddy...._

No. That wasn't right.

_Dead mommy. Dead daddy._ _Vampires._

I could hear a sharp noise resonating through my body, cries of pain which got louder and louder. I wanted to clap my hands over my ears and squeeze my eyes shut so I couldn't see the ragged remains of my family anymore.

But I could still see _their_ faces. Laughing. Smirking. Sneering. Their gums pulling back over their teeth. Vampires were supposed to be very good looking. I saw no beauty in them.

The cries in the background turned into blood-curdling screams and I wished that it would stop. The sound hurt my ears, constantly growing louder and louder.

The vampires...

There was something I was supposed to remember about the vampires.

My eyes bolted open. The screams continued and I idly noticed that they seemed to be emerging from my chest. I was frozen; curled up sideways in a ball – _protect yourself as much as possible_ – shaking violently. I tried to shut my mouth, tried to stop the wailing, but I couldn't. And there was another voice which joined my own; not wailing with me but calling my name, and I fought to hear it over the screams.

"Isabella....? Isabella, can you hear me? You're safe now, Isabella. I promise you. You're safe now."

_Safe..._

I clung to that word. According to the voice I was safe. _Please god, let me be safe._

I could feel the screams inside my chest dying back down to whimpers again, and I tried to focus on this voice, this saviour who promised me that I was safe.

"That's right, my darling," a female voice chimed in. "We won't hurt you. You're far from harm now, sweetheart."

I relaxed slightly as a soothing hand began to rub my back, only to tense a minute later upon realising that the hand was frigid in temperature.

The vampires...

I had remembered the ones who had murdered my parents, but now a new image came to me. Another vampire. Male. Black eyes. He had loaded me into a car and driven off. I bemoaned my stupidity at passing out. I now didn't know where I was or what kind of creatures I was with.

Slowly, I slid my eyes round to survey the room I was in. Well, at least they had given me a comfy bed to die on rather than just a ratty floor like the other vampires'... House? Home? Lair, I decided. Lair was a good vampire-y word. The room that the bed was in was also quite posh looking; decorated in pastels with solid oak furniture. And at the end of the bed were the vampires.

There were five of them, all beautiful as I expected, and all looking a bit scared of me. That I did not expect.

There was only one woman out of all of them. Presumably she was the one who had tried to soothe me with her touch. She had wavy caramel-coloured hair and the kind of look on her face which suggested that she wanted to do nothing else but mother me. I snorted inwardly; she'd probably rip a baby to shreds rather than take care of one.

Out of the four males there was one who appeared slightly older than the other three, who all could pass for high-school students. The elder vampire had the kind of golden hair and movie-star good looks that reminded me of the old Hollywood films that my mother loves to watch.

_Loved to watch, Bella. She can't love anything anymore, can she? She's dead._

The three younger vampires looked like they had been in a competition to see who could be the tallest; an accolade awarded to the wiry one with messy blond hair. I briefly acknowledged in my mind that the second tallest, the skinny one, was the vampire from the car – Edward – before turning my attention towards the last of the three.

I gasped. This vampire was huge and scary and looked like he could possibly crush my skull with just one finger. I stared at him in shock and fear, before noticing that whilst the others were watching me cautiously and hesitantly, he was grinning wildly. It wasn't even a malicious grin, like the ones which had frequently crossed the faces of Victoria, James and Laurent when they looked at me – their snack.

As I eyed him carefully, I suddenly felt my body relax as a strange wave of calm washed over me.

"Jasper...," the older blonde vampire warned.

I swivelled my head to see who he was talking to, following his gaze to that of the younger blonde, who shrugged sheepishly in response before leaving the room. Why was he leaving? Maybe he wasn't hungry. I wasn't that big really. I probably wouldn't go that far between four, let alone five.

The giant took the opportunity to step forward, still grinning manically. "Hi Isabella. I'm Emmett. It's great that you're here to stay, little sister. Let me know if anyone pisses you off and I'll take care of them for you. We..."

"Emmett," the blonde vampire cut him off sharply. "Go downstairs. Both of you. Esme and I would like to talk to Isabella privately, if you don't mind."

The giant – Emmett – waved happily, not at all perturbed by this admonishment, before exiting the room, followed by the bronze-haired vampire from the car, who hadn't stopped glaring confusedly at me.

Then the room was quiet. Just me and the two older vampires. I wondered if perhaps being older in physical age meant that they got first pickings. They exchanged a glance, before turning to face me.

"So Isabella, my name is Doctor Carlisle Cullen and this is my wife, Esme. You've just met our three sons Emmett, Edward and Jasper." He paused, as though waiting for me to say something in reply to this. I kept my mouth shut.

Another glance. "I'd first like to reassure you that whilst in our care you will come to no harm and ..."

"We're not going to hurt you, sweetheart," the woman interrupted. "You're perfectly safe here and we're going to take good care of you." She took a step forward, arms reaching out slightly as if she wanted to hug me, but then thought better of it.

They were both looking at me as if I was supposed to say something and I almost remained quiet just to spite them – force them to keep talking, 'cos I wouldn't be listening.

_But what if they hurt me because I wouldn't reply to them?_ As much as I wanted to provoke them, I didn't think my body, or my mind, was up to much more abuse. I debated this inwardly for a moment before deciding that it couldn't hurt to keep them talking. Surely they wouldn't speak with their mouths full? I giggled softly to myself.

They were still watching me, so I tried to focus on what had already been said. "Doctor?"

I almost laughed again at the look of relief which crossed both their faces at the sound of my voice before the male, Carlisle, rushed to reply. "Yes, I'm a doctor at the local county hospital in town, about thirty miles from here." I immediately gave up my escape plan to get into town at the phrase 'thirty miles'. I would probably have accidentally killed myself by the time I reached two. "I've set your wrist for you and sewn up the gash in your leg." I looked down, registering for the first time the plaster and bandages which covered me from head to toe – another reason not to move.

"May we ask you some questions, Isabella," the female vampire interjected.

"Bella."

"Sorry?" Great, now they both looked puzzled again.

"I go by Bella. My mom and dad only call me Isabella when I'm in trouble." A sharp pain seemed to stab through my heart at the mention of my parents and I almost gasped out loud at the force of it.

"Well, Bella then," the doctor conceded. "May we ask how old you are?"

Although I knew I should probably answer them, I decided to keep my replies as short as possible. I didn't owe them anything. "I'm thirteen."

"And when's your birthday?"

"September 13th." Three months time, nearly exactly.

"OK, good." The doctor seemed pleased by this information, but I couldn't work out why. Maybe it was like eating lamb or something – the younger the meat the better it tastes.

The woman's soft voice interrupted my thoughts again, "Do you know what's happened, Bella?"

I scowled at her – did she think I was stupid, like those other vampires did. "Yes. I know what happened," I answered succinctly.

The two vampires exchanged another glance. I wished they would stop doing that – it was beginning to get annoying.

As I shifted in the bed slightly, I noticed the pain that shot up through my leg, setting off the tandem throbbing between that and my arm again. The vampires noticed my wince, of course, and the doctor disappeared quickly only to reappear a second later with a needle in his hand.

"What is that?" I was beginning to panic, I didn't want to go to sleep again. I didn't want to see the pictures in my head, the nightmare, only to have to wake up to discover that it was all real once more.

"It's just something for the pain, to give your body a chance to heal." I shook my head frantically, trying to wriggle away. I managed to get one foot on the floor, only for it to give way beneath me when I tried to put weight on it. Of course, it had to be my injured leg didn't it.

"Esme."

The female vampire was immediately by my side, lifting me up, and I clawed frantically at the arm which banded across my chest, holding me upright. And then there was a sting in my elbow and I was suddenly grateful for the support for my now heavy body.

I didn't even feel myself being placed back on the bed. I was too busy drowning in my nightmares.

* * *

When I regained consciousness again, the male vampire, the doctor, was gone and only the female remained. I watched her surreptitiously out of the corner of my eye as she rocked gently back and forwards on a chair placed by the bottom of the bed, staring into space. Quite frankly I was amazed I had even woken up at all. Wouldn't it have been easier to drain me whilst I was completely out of it? My grief over my parents was still there in the background of my mind, but it was beginning to be overshadowed by anger. What the hell were these vampires playing at?

Every part of my body felt cramped and achy after my medically-induced sleep and I stretched out as much as I could in an effort to relieve the tension in my back. My head still felt groggy from whatever the doctor vampire had given me earlier, and I shook it slightly in an effort to clear it. I looked back at the woman, only to flinch when I found her eyes meeting my gaze curiously.

"How do you feel Bella? Is your wrist or leg hurting? Can I get you anything for the pain?" Her words were rushed and I found myself struggling to understand them.

Wriggling my body up the bed until my back met the headboard I stared blankly at her. Both of us fully engaged in staring at one another.

She obviously had more patience than I did as I felt compelled to break the silence. "How long are you planning to keep me alive?"

This time it was her who flinched back from me. "Darling, we aren't going to kill you. You're perfectly safe here."

I nearly cried in frustration; these vampires had kidnapped me, brought me to their house and now they _weren't_ planning on killing me. Why was I still here then? Why wouldn't they take me back home?

But then, I didn't have a home to go back to anymore did I? _Dead daddy... dead mommy..._

Even so, surely if they weren't going to murder me then they could take me back to town. Someone would take me in; my parents were popular and had lots of friends, and even going into care didn't seem too bad. I just wanted to get away from all these creatures that shouldn't exist, back to human civilisation. Too late, I noticed that fat tears were now rolling down my face as I sobbed quietly. _Why can't I go back?_

I didn't even realize that I had asked the question out loud until the female replied, wringing her hands and looking almost as distraught as I felt. "Bella, sweetheart, you have to understand. We did it to protect you." Her voice was wavering now and I'm sure that if she could have cried too, she would have. "Bella... People think you're dead. We had to make them think that you were dead. It was the only way to protect you. If they'd known you were still alive they would have come for you, they would have killed you."

The tone of her voice must have alerted whoever was in the house to her distress, because the next I knew the younger blond was in the room, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder and visibly calming her down.

_Why should she be calm? She had no right to._ My emotions were now hurtling me from anger to grief to frustration and back again as I processed her words. "What do you mean they think I'm dead?" I screeched. "Who thinks I'm dead? What are you going to do with me? What's going to happen to me?" I balled my fists up on the comforter, wanting badly to hit one of the vampires in the room, but recognising that I would probably do more damage to myself than them.

The blond – Jasper, I recalled – answered my questions this time. "Bella, the vampires who killed your parents were judged and executed by the law-makers of our kind. Our laws state that humans are not supposed to know of our existence and if they do they are to be silenced."

He waited for a moment as I tried to dissect this information within my already throbbing head. I knew about vampires. Which meant that I would also have to be executed.

And in that moment I wanted it. I wanted death. I didn't want to have to deal with vampires and dead parents and the mess that was inevitably waiting for me in the future.

Blondie interrupted my thoughts.

"In order to keep you safe from their judgement you will have to live separate from human society. Everyone thinks you're dead, and if you're going to stay safe no one can ever think that you're alive. From now on you'll be staying with us and we'll take care of you, Bella. We just want to protect you."

This speech was punctuation by a wave of relaxation cresting through my body and I realized that this vampire had apparently done a similar thing earlier. Shrugging off the calm, I felt my tidal wave of emotions rising at the situation again. People thought I was dead. No one was coming to look for me. If people knew I was alive I would be in danger. Panic welled up in my throat, almost choking me in its intensity, and Blondie shot a worried look at the woman. I was suddenly sick at the sight of them. _I didn't want to stay here. How dare they! _

Previously, in the back of my mind I hadn't really cared what would happen to me. Death seemed unavoidable whilst in the presence of these vampires, and the end was more a question of when, rather than if. Obviously, if I could avoid pain before it happened that would be good too, but I had made my peace. I had welcomed it; if my family was dead, what did I have to live for? And now these... these vampires... were denying me this certainty. They wanted to keep me, to take care of me, to make sure I stayed alive... And I hated them for it.

"Get out," my voice was barely a whisper but I knew they would hear it.

"Bella, honey..." the woman began.

"Get out!" I screamed. "Get out! Get out, get out, get out!" My breath was hitching now as the rage and screaming began to make an impression on my body.

The woman took a step towards me, but stopped dead at the force of my glare. "I want nothing to do with you. Get. Out."

The blond stared severely back at me, but the woman seemed to be trying to control her grief once more. "Ok, Bella. We know this is a lot to take in. I'll be just down the hall if you need me, alright?"

I didn't reply, rolling over so my back faced the door. I held it together until I heard the click that signified that they had left and then I let it all out. Great, heaving cries racked my body, making my chest hurt and my throat sore. The tears just wouldn't stop as I contemplated the sheer hopelessness of the situation.

My parents were dead; vampires would hunt me down if they knew that I knew of their existence; and, other vampires wanted to take me away from everything I knew, apparently to look after me (_so they said!_), but more likely so they could kill me themselves.

As my tears slowly dried, I noticed that same lightheaded feeling that I had gotten in the car taking over me. Then, I had assumed that it was making everything seem fuzzy to shield me from the physical pain, now I wondered if it was here to shield me from life itself. It was as if I was detached from my body, but could still look down and see everything that was happening to me. It was better than everything else I was feeling.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and let the numbness drift me away. Hopefully, I would never return.


	5. Something's Got To Give

**Thanks once again to everyone who's reading this and cheers even more to those who review. I love the feedback I'm getting.**

**Special thanks to the Lemon Sisters who've pimped me out on their blog this week. **

**Love and hugs and eternal praise also go to my wonderful beta ms_ambrosia.**

* * *

**Something's Got to Give**

**JPOV**

It was a curious thing to be around someone who didn't express any feelings. Bella was a complete emotional blank and had been ever since she had found out that she was staying with us. In fact, she wasn't just an emotional blank, but a mental and physical one too. The last time she had spoken or moved voluntarily was when she was yelling at Esme and I to get out of her room.

At first we had just left her to it, understanding her need to grieve for her parents and her old life, but as time went on, everyone was starting to get worried. She never moved, not for anything; she just lay there staring into space. Carlisle had been feeding her intravenously for the past four months whilst Esme took care of all the rest of her physical needs. The strain of looking after someone completely unresponsive was taking its toll on all of us, especially me.

The turmoil that all of my family members were feeling was beginning to bore into my brain, driving me mad. Esme was constantly upset, trying so hard to do her best by Bella yet feeling like a failure as a mother because she couldn't get her to snap out of it. Carlisle, at first, had been understanding, recognizing that Bella's mind had shut down to protect her from so much upheaval and reassuring us all that such a thing was perfectly normal for someone who had lived through such horrors. Lately though, the primary emotion he was expressing was anxiety; he was reluctant to continue treating Bella medically in such a way long term.

Edward avoided Bella's room at all costs; despite her being barely conscious, he was still concerned that his bloodlust would overcome him where she was concerned. His constant feelings of hunger were beginning to affect my own, as if I didn't have enough trouble abstaining, and I was forced to hunt a lot more than I used to. He had also been projecting a lot of fear lately, particularly when someone mentioned Bella, which was all the time. Emmett guessed that he was scared of having a girl living in the same house as him. As much as Edward looked like a womanizer, our virginal little brother had absolutely no clue when it came to the opposite sex and he was terrified. I got a lot of sadistic pleasure out of that. Emmett and I would have conversations around him in which we tried to mention Bella's name as often as possible; it was funny to watch Edward squirm uncomfortably before excusing himself.

Emmett was taking Bella's arrival into our household as badly as the rest of us. The primary emotion that I felt from him was disappointment that he couldn't immediately begin his big-brotherly duties towards her. He was so eager to spend time with her that he had taken to sitting in her room with her, reading, listening to music and watching TV. Despite Bella not responding to any of it, he insisted on continuing to spend time her, explaining that he wanted her to be able to recognize his voice so she wouldn't be afraid when she came back to us. For all his jokes and pranks, Emmett really was a sensitive soul; I could vouch for that. However, Emmett's hope could only get him so far; the longer it took for Bella to respond, the more despondent he grew, even though he hid his concern behind laughter and jokes.

Our once happy home was infected with worry. Four months. No one should still be in shock after four months. She hadn't come out of her stupor for her birthday and Esme had ended up throwing out the cake that she had painstakingly made for her after it went stale. She still wasn't functioning when we moved on to Oregon shortly after. Carlisle felt that we had spent long enough in Alaska; he particularly wanted to get out of state with Bella so that when she was better she could go out in public freely, without fear of being recognized.

So here we all were, in another small town, enrolled in yet another high school, in another cafeteria, with more stupid little humans alternating between fawning over us and keeping their distance. Our new little sister, who was supposed to be joining us at school this year, was spaced out in her bedroom at home.

The concern my family was unconsciously throwing at me over this tiny human girl was starting to grate on my nerves. Whilst they were getting more and more worried, I was getting more and more angry. We were all walking on eggshells around Bella, afraid to make any moves in case she snapped any further. I was sick of it.

So tonight I was going to make my move. I wasn't going to let this girl destroy my family any further; she was a threat to our very sanity, and I was going to take care of it. I was lucky that Edward had been so distracted lately; if he'd heard my plans I'm sure he would have been watching me like a hawk.

After school the house was as empty as it was going to get. Carlisle and Esme were at work and Edward was out hunting; just me, Bella and Emmett remained at home. Bella was in bed in her room, as always, whilst Emmett was searching for something new to read to her in Carlisle's library. I wasn't going to get a better chance than this. I just couldn't stand the sorrow that penetrated my body any more. Besides I always was the fucked-up son, the one more prone to slipping, my actions could be easily excused.

I made my way upstairs, bracing myself for what I was about to do. I did feel sorry for this girl. I knew how much Esme, Carlisle and Emmett wanted to make her a part of our family, but that could only happen if both parties made the effort and it just wasn't happening. Bella couldn't stay like this, and, quite frankly, neither could we. Maybe putting her out of her misery was the best course of action.

I reached the entrance to her room and slowly sank into a hunting crouch, growling quietly. Bella didn't even react, she just lay there like usual; I didn't even merit a blink. Tensing, I prepared to leap, my teeth glistening with the venom that coated my mouth at the thought of fresh human blood.

I pounced...

... only to be plucked out of the air mid-jump and slammed so hard into the opposite wall that both me and my attacker ended up in the hall.

I started to fight back only to find myself pinned face-first into the floor by the weight of Emmett's bulk.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing Jasper!?" Emmett grabbed the back of my neck before smashing my head into the woodwork, leaving a dent.

"Get off me," I roared, fighting to get up. "If she doesn't want to live so badly, then maybe she shouldn't."

He growled at me before slamming my head down again. I bucked up, managing to dislodge his grip enough to twist around and kick him down the stairs. I barely heard the tinkling of the glass in the lobby as the window shattered from Emmett's impact; I was too focused on getting back to Bella before he recovered.

And I did... only I forgot one thing...

I have two brothers.

And the one who was supposed to be out hunting for the rest of the evening was now standing between me and my prey. I snarled in frustration. _How hard could it possibly be to killing one fucking human girl?_

I sank back down into a hunting crouch once more, Edward mirroring my actions. I needed to get him out the way before Emmett came back upstairs and it was two against one. Edward nodded slightly in acknowledgement of my thoughts and braced himself for my attack.

I lunged, crashing into his body and sending us sliding into the end of the bed, which crumpled under the pressure. I was about as close to Bella as I was going to get so I reached up to grab her ankle and drag her down towards me.

Emmett crashed into me again, sending us out of the second-storey window, over the balcony and onto the ground below. I recovered faster than Emmett and propelled myself upwards into the house again, fully prepared to take on Edward once more...

Only to find that he wasn't paying any attention to me.

I followed his gaze to find Bella, sitting up against the headboard, arms clutching her legs up to her chest, eyes flicking back and forth between the two of us.

A thump and the sound of yet more shattered glass marked Emmett's return to the room, and he banded his arms around my chest before realising that I wasn't attacking any more.

For a whole minute no-one moved. Everyone carefully assessing this new situation we found ourselves in. In the end it was Emmett who decided to make the first move.

Stepping in front of Edward and I, he reached an arm out slowly, shuffling forward before placing his hand lightly on Bella's shoulder.

"Bella?"

She didn't answer, continuing to turn her head so she could see all of us.

Emmett stepped forward until he blocked her line of sight and she had to focus on him alone.

"Bella, I'm Emmett, remember? I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to take care of you, little sis, ok?"

Bella burst out crying, throwing herself into Emmett's arms and burying her face into his shirt.

Emmett looked up at Edward and I with panic in his eyes, only for both of us to shrug at him. He carefully wrapped his arms around her, rocking her gently against his body.

"It's alright Bella, you're going to be alright. Everything's going to be fine."

* * *

After an hour of continuous sobbing, Bella had cried herself into a fitful sleep.

We hadn't been able to get hold of either of our parents; Carlisle was in surgery and Esme had her phone switched off. We would have to deal with Bella ourselves for the moment, which also meant that my brothers had decided to deal with me as well. I had already been thoroughly beaten up and was now sat on the couch facing the Spanish Inquisition.

"What the hell were you thinking? You could have killed her Jasper."

I stared witheringly at Emmett. Edward had retreated to the corner of the room, muttering about hunting again.

"Yeah, that was kind of the point, Em."

"But I don't understand why you would even try it. She's our sister Jasper."

I stood up sharply, angry that he didn't even get it. "She's not our sister Emmett. She could have been, but if she doesn't want to be a part of this family we can't make her." I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. "Do you know how miserable she's made this family? Or haven't you noticed? Well you might not have but I have. Every time Esme's been near tears, every time Edward's had to run away from his own home, every time Carlisle's had to force-feed her, every time you've tried to make her respond to you and she hasn't, I've felt it. I've felt it all or did you forget that I would? To have that misery drilling into my mind day after day... why wouldn't I _even try it_?"

Emmett turned and sank down onto the sofa, covering his face with his hands. "I didn't realise it had gotten that bad. I'm sorry."

"So what now?" Edward asked from the corner.

The three of us sat in silence; none of us had the answer.

A soft shuffling sound came from upstairs. Bella was awake again and we didn't have a clue how to handle the situation.

Emmett led the way up the stairs with Edward and I following more hesitantly behind, unsure of what we might find.

Bella was lying back down in her bed exactly where Emmett had placed her; she didn't react when we entered the room. _Fuck, not this again._

I was not going to let this happen. Bella needed to be awake and functioning, and just because she didn't want to acknowledge us didn't mean I was going to let her. We had tried the 'softly, softly' approach and it had gotten us nowhere.

"Get up."

My brothers turned to watch me in horror. "Jasper, you can't talk to her like..."

"Get up, Bella," I demanded, interrupting Edward's protests. "If she's going to live here, she needs to start doing what she's told. Get up!"

And to their amazement and mine, Bella slowly swung her legs off the side of the bed before standing up unsteadily, her gaze fixed upon mine.

For a brief moment I panicked, unsure about what to get her to do next. What do humans need?

Food.

"Edward, can you go and get Bella something to eat like..." I searched my memory, trying to think of what we had in the house that didn't require cooking. "Cereal," I decided. That only needed milk poured on it, and surely we couldn't possibly cock that up. "And some juice in case Bella's thirsty."

Edward departed to the kitchen, leaving me and Emmett with Bella. What next? Emmett caught my eye, gesturing towards the bathroom.

"Bella, go and have a shower and wash your hair. Emmett will get you some clean pajamas to put on after."

Whilst Emmett fetched the clothes, Bella engaged me in a staring contest, challenging me with her eyes. I remained firm. This little girl had screwed around with us long enough, and I wasn't going to let it happen any further.

"Go and shower and get dressed, Bella," I enunciated every word clearly, leaving no room for argument.

Then Bella gave me the most promising sign of all that she was going to be ok. She huffed, rolling her eyes at me, before grabbing the fresh clothes from Emmett. Stalking to the bathroom, she slammed the door behind her and seconds later the shower switched on.

By this point Emmett and I were grinning at each other like maniacs.

Bella was going to be just fine.


	6. How It's Going To Be

**I'm trying to get all my written chapters out before Christmas before I start posting the new ones so here's Chapter 5.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing. Love and thanks to my brilliant beta ms_ambrosia.**

* * *

**EsPOV**

I was furious.

I can honestly say I don't think I'd ever been so blindingly angry in all my existence; and I never got angry.

I had lived in a house with these... these _males_ for over fifty years now and yes, sometimes they annoyed me, sometimes they behaved in an irritating manner, sometimes they threw each other through the walls of whichever house we were staying...

... but they had never made me truly angry before.

It all started when I got home. I had finally finished applying some finishing touches to the house of one of my clients. I didn't have to work, but Carlisle did, so I decided that I would to. I really did love doing up old houses. Just seeing an old dilapidated property flourish under my hands and care made me so proud. Here was something I could create, rather than kill.

So to see my own house looking like a bombsite when I got home came as quite a shock.

The first thing I noticed as I drove up was that the front door was missing... or not missing, but crushed to a wooden pulp on the lawn about ten feet from where it should be. The glass panels I had painstakingly fitted around it were also missing – shattered into a million glittering pieces on the porch.

If those boys had been wrestling again...

Making my way into the house, more damage became apparent. The stairs were cracked and dented, some completely demolished into splinters.

Immediately wary, I reached my senses out to assess the situation. One heartbeat, _Bella's_, resounded from upstairs, although it sounded suspiciously faster than the sluggish rhythm that it had taken up as of late.

Crashes and muttered swears warned me of Emmett's presence in the kitchen and I silently wondered what he was even doing in there. Footsteps paced overhead, walking with considered purpose, too heavy to be Edward's. _Jasper_.

All present and accounted for - Edward would probably be hunting - I decided to further assess the damage that the boys had managed to cause this time.

Making my way up to the first floor I froze. The hallway was completely destroyed; planks of wood and exposed beams stuck out of the floors and walls, one wall had completely concaved from some kind of impact and the other separating Bella's room wasn't even there.

_Oh God, Bella!_

I frantically ran into her bedroom, my heart screaming out at what I might find.

Her bed was partially collapsed, the end marking another dent on the floor where something had landed. The windows and curtains were missing... and so was Bella.

She was gone.

Despite knowing that I had heard her heartbeat not five seconds earlier, I couldn't help but panic. Bella never left her bed. She was always there. Although I had prayed that one day she would be strong enough to leave it, I still panicked at this change in the routine I had gotten into.

In a flash Jasper was in front of me, grasping my shoulders tightly; I had never been so thankful for his gift as I felt myself gradually calm down.

"Take a deep breath and listen," he advised. I followed his instructions, despite the deep breath not doing me much good. I pricked my ears and heard Bella's heartbeat thrumming from the next-door bathroom.

She was safe. _She was safe_. I had to keep repeating that to myself to make it sink in.

She was safe _in the bathroom?!_

"Jasper... is she...?"

"Yes," he replied. "She's been in there for about twenty minutes now. She should be coming out for something to eat soon."

I stared at him in wonder and slowly growing excitement. Bella was awake.

Then my brain kicked in.

"What the hell happened here?" I screeched, gesturing towards all the damage in the room. Downstairs I heard Emmett stop moving. "What have you boys done?!"

Jasper backed away from me slowly, raising his hands in a sign of surrender.

"Why don't we go and sit down, and then Emmett and I can explain," he interjected smoothly. _Too smoothly_.

As if he could feel my suspicion, which he probably could, I suddenly calmed down again. I glared at him. Right at this moment I didn't feel like calm was an appropriate thing to be.

"Fine," I conceded. "Let's go."

And now here I sat facing my two boys, who were beginning to fidget in front of me as I continued to stay silent.

"So, let me get this straight," I began. "Jasper, you were beginning to feel depressed over how we were all feeling with regards to Bella's inertia. Correct?"

I looked to him for confirmation and he nodded.

"So you decided that as Bella's presence was making this family unhappy, you would remove the source of this unhappiness, namely Bella, by killing her?"

Another nod.

"And your brothers stopped you and in the process you all destroyed my house?"

Jasper and Emmett were exchanging uneasy glances now.

"And the racket and destruction caused by your fighting somehow managed to break through to Bella and she woke up, for lack of better words."

I paused to consider all of this from several different angles, then paused again to work out how I was going to handle this, then paused again in an effort to not lose my temper.

"When Edward gets back," I gritted out through my teeth, "you will all fix this house. You will make sure every wall and floorboard is back in place and neatly sanded. You will replace all of the windows and glass that you broke."

"Well technically..."

"No interruptions, Emmett. You will make up a new room for Bella in this house wherever she wants it. If she chooses to stay in one of the rooms you have already selected then you will give it to her with good grace. Emmett, you will clean up the mess you've made in the kitchen. Jasper, you will let us know if the emotional climate in this house ever gets to be too much for you again. When Edward gets back, you will all apologize to Bella for your behaviour in front of her,and Jasper you will apologize for trying to kill her." By this point my voice was getting louder and louder.

"And one more thing... this will never happen again. _Ever_. If I ever see behaviour of this sort again... well, let's just say you wouldn't like the consequences."

I punctuated my speech by poking each of them decisively in the chest, and a part of me relished that they both looked slightly terrified.

_Ha, I did that_.

"Now go and start cleaning up the mess you've made. Now!" I barked at them when it looked like they weren't going to move.

They both scurried away and I sank back down into the sofa. _What on earth had they been thinking?_ Bella could have ended up seriously hurt.

Speaking of Bella, I heard the sloshing around upstairs stop and raised my head to stare at the ceiling. She was moving around slowly, probably a bit stiff, and before long I heard a thud and a soft cry of pain.

My baby was hurting. I needed to get up there.

**BPOV**

_Who does he think he is? Stupid vampire!_

Mulling things over in the tub hadn't done my brain much good, despite that my mom had always used to say that there was nothing like a nice hot bath to make everything ok. But then she had probably said that in order to stop me complaining in the past.

Then again, I didn't have a mommy anymore; all I had was a mountain of a vampire whose voice I vaguely recognized and who seemed strangely determined to protect me.

I suppose that was better than nothing.

I hadn't been completely cut off when my mind shut down; I could still vaguely tell what was going on around me, but it was as if from a distance, like it was all happening to someone else and I was just a casual observer with no vested interest in the situation at all. So I saw it all and felt nothing. Or almost nothing.

Yet there was a routine to everything that I did remember. Twice a day would come a sharp sting of a needle. The bear's voice would float in and out of my consciousness randomly, spouting words that I knew he hadn't composed himself, and then there was the staring.

On a number of occasions, but I couldn't tell you for how long, the blonde vampire had come and crouched directly in front of my face and stared at my eyes. I didn't know what for and I didn't care. It was more that I was left with the impression that there was something within me that he was searching for. He must not have found what he wanted because when I woke up he was attacking me.

I had 'seen' him come into the room and crouch once more, this time accompanied by a rumbling growl. I hadn't felt anything until he grabbed my ankle though.

I think it was the shock of being treated so violently that woke me up properly.

Then I felt everything.

Pressure as my ankle bruised under his grasp, thudding through my body as my heart reacted to the danger, and the noise. _Oh God, the noise._

Snarling and growling, shattering glass and splintering wood and crashes as loud as thunder when the vampires collided with each other.

My mind screamed at me to run and hide, but the bronze-haired vampire was still in the room; I would never escape. So I scrambled to the head of the bed and wrapped my arms around my legs, trying to make myself as small as possible.

Then all three were there. Staring at me. My body began to react to the dangerous situation I found myself in - I was shaking so hard that I was surprised my teeth weren't rattling.

Then the bear stepped forward, in front of the other two. "Bella?" I didn't answer - I was too busy trying to keep my eye on all of them at once.

"Bella, I'm Emmett, remember? I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to take care of you, little sis, ok?"

The bear was now blocking my view of the other vampires and I struggled to process his words.

Emmett. The bear was called Emmett. And his voice was familiar. He had been the one reading to me. Why would he read to me if I was just someone to eat? But he said he wasn't going to eat me - he was going to look after me.

Suddenly I was so tired. Everything seemed to be bombarding me at once. Sounds and actions and thoughts and feelings. And through it all stood this bear... Emmett... who said he would take care of me.

There was no-one else and it was all too much.

I burst into tears; everything was so overwhelming. And Emmett was there to comfort me. So I let him. I cried and cried, and he gently rocked me to sleep in arms as cold as ice.

When I woke up I felt cold to my soul once again. A glance around the room showed me that Emmett wasn't there. He had left me, just like my mommy and daddy did.

I could feel the fog closing in on my mind again.

This time though, it didn't last. A harsh voice penetrated through the gloom.

"Get up."

I vaguely registering protesting voices, but I latched on to the cold, hard sound of the command being issued. "Get up, Bella."

This I could do. This made sense to me. I could follow instructions. Instructions would tell me what to do and how to act. I needed something that made sense to me right now, and this was it.

"Get up."

I wriggled off the bed slowly, my legs not entirely stable beneath me, but when were they ever. Looking towards my instructor I focused blearily on the blonde vampire, the one who had tried to kill me. _Makes sense I suppose_.

Jasper. This vampire was called Jasper, my memory supplied, though I couldn't remember when I'd been given that information.

I continued to stand and stare at him, waiting for him to tell me what I was supposed to do next. He mentioned food to the vampire from the car – Edward – who then vanished out of the room.

Emmett was back and I sent a silent thanks up to whoever was listening that he hadn't abandoned me like I had thought. He was now looking to Jasper for instruction too. Both of them looked completely clueless. My faith in their ability to handle the situation was rapidly dwindling.

Jasper appeared to come to a decision. "Bella, go and have a shower and wash your hair. Emmett will get you some clean pajamas to put on after."

Emmett moved away to follow Jasper's commands, but I stayed where I was. Not two seconds ago he hadn't looked like he knew what he was doing, and I needed him to know what he was doing.

"Go and shower and get dressed, Bella." I held his stare for about five more seconds, but this time he didn't waver.

Huffing for show, but secretly pleased that I now knew where I stood, I rolled my eyes, grabbing the unfamiliar clothes from Emmett before stomping to the only undestroyed door in the room. _I really hope this is the bathroom; otherwise I've just made an idiot of myself_. Luckily, it was, and I slammed the door for good measure before slumping back against it.

My show of petulance had taken a lot out of me. My legs felt weak and unable to support me, whilst I was shaking with the effort of keeping upright. Looking around the bathroom, I was pleased to notice a bath as well as a shower. I really didn't rate my chances of staying upright.

Stripping off slowly, I ran the water as hot as I could stand it and slipped in. The feeling of washing away all the accumulated grime and grit was lovely, but still my mind wouldn't quieten. What was I supposed to do now? Oh right, get dressed into clean pajamas.

I gingerly stepped over the edge of the bath and was pleased that I had at least managed to not slip over in the water. My joy was short-lived however, when my trembling muscles gave out underneath me, sending me crashing to the floor and banging the wrist that had previously been broken into the side of the tub. Letting out a small cry of pain, I clutched it to my chest, angry that I couldn't even complete the simplest of tasks assigned to me.

Suddenly a sharp knock came at the door. Whimpering, I dragged myself over to the pajamas laid out for me, unable to walk, but unwilling to face whatever threat was behind that door naked.

As I frantically crawled into the clean clothes, a soft feminine voice floated through the room. "Bella? Bella, are you alright sweetheart?"

The door swung open before I could answer, revealing the mommy vampire from before. The one I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw her.

She crept slowly into the room, evaluating the situation before moving closer. "Are you alright, Bella? I heard you cry out. Have you hurt yourself?"

I didn't like this. I didn't know how to act around her. I didn't know what she wanted. Emmett wanted to protect me and Jasper wanted to tell me what to do... and possibly kill me. But I knew that. I could accept that and cope with it. I couldn't cope with this.

The mommy vampire was right in front of me by now, and I jerked back, startled at the fast movement. She raised her hand and brushed my wet hair out of my face.

It was too much.

She was too much. Just like my real mommy, my dead mommy. And now she was talking.

"Bella, I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to look after you. I'm Esme, remember? My husband Carlisle and I are your guardians now. We don't mean to cause you any harm."

I started shaking my head in denial. So now not only was this vampire acting like my mother but she was expecting to take the place of my mother as well?

No. Just no. It wasn't going to happen.

Still shaking my head, I did the only thing I could think of.

"Emmett!"

Esme looked shocked and upset as I continued to scream for the only vampire I felt safe with. It felt like I was screaming for ages, but in reality was only a couple of seconds.

Emmett crashed through the door, looking like he was ready to attack, stopping short when he saw just me and Esme.

"What's going on?" he questioned hesitantly.

"I can't walk," I replied rather pathetically. "Can you please help me get out of here and to bed again?"

He glanced again between Esme and I, frowning. "Sure," he eventually answered, scooping me up and carrying me out of the wrecked bedroom and down the hall to another nicely decorated bedroom, Esme trailing our steps behind him. "This alright for you, Bells?"

"Thank you," I smiled.

"No problem," he grinned. "Hold on a sec and I'll go fetch your cordon bleu dinner for you."

He disappeared and Esme began flitting around the room, aimlessly straightening and tidying the already spotless furniture.

"Thank you for all your help," I said coldly, wanting her to just leave me in peace.

Instead she took it as an invitation to move closer. "Do you need help getting comfortable?" she asked eagerly.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you," I belatedly tagged on.

Again she didn't leave.

"I don't need any help, thank you." I paused. "Don't let me keep you."

Wringing her hands together, Esme stepped closer to me. "Bella... I know this isn't an ideal situation that you find yourself in, but please be assured that we really don't mean you harm."

"Right," I interrupted. "That's why Blondie tried to kill me earlier."

At this reminder she turned her head away slightly, muttering under her breath. "We all just have to find our own way to adjust to the situation we find ourselves in," she stated, diplomatically. "We really are all happy to have you here."

I snorted disbelievingly.

"We hope that in time you will be able to feel like part of this family," she continued.

"You really don't get it, do you?" I laughed mockingly. "I don't want to be a part of your family. I had a family. But they're all dead now. What makes you think I need a new one to replace them?"

By this point I could see that my words were hurting her, but I couldn't find it in myself to care or stop. "What makes you think that you could ever replace _my_ mother? What makes you think that I would want you to?"

"That's enough."

There it was. The voice that told me what to do. I was grateful to hear it, and was more grateful that it told me to stop talking. I was already beginning to feel bad about how I'd talked to Esme, even though I didn't owe her anything.

Jasper strode into the room, followed by Emmett, who was carrying what looked like cereal and juice. He placed the food on my bedside table but I ignored it.

"Bella, swee..."Esme caught herself. "You should try to eat something."

I didn't even look at her, engaged once more in a staring contest with Jasper. Was this how my new life was going to be? Constant staring? I briefly wondered where the other male vampires had gone, but then decided that I didn't care.

It was then that Jasper spoke. "Would the two of you please leave the room. I need to speak with Bella."

"Jasper, I don't think..."

"I won't hurt her. I just want to talk. Emmett can wait outside the door if he wants to."

Casting more wary glances, Esme and Emmett left the room, and then it was just me and Blondie.

"You can't do this Bella. I won't let you."

I tilted my head, confused as to what it was I was supposed to have done.

"I won't let you treat my family like this."

I began to protest, only to be cut off.

"I won't allow you to keep lashing out at us all when we're trying to help you. So here's how it's going to be. You will treat all of us with respect; no more of this yelling at Esme. She knows that she won't replace your mother, she's not trying to. What she is trying to do is help you, so you will extend some common courtesy towards hers." He stared penetratingly at me. "OK?"

I huffed before assessing that his request wasn't actually that unreasonable. Slowly, I nodded.

He nodded in reply before continuing. "You also won't be allowed to harm yourself in any manner, starting with your eating. So when I tell you to do something I expect it to be done. None of us expect you to do anything uncomfortable or unfair, but we do expect you to co-operate with us. Deal?"

He held out his hand and I hesitated. Then I remembered how it felt before, when everything in my mind bombarded me and I was lost. Until I knew what to do. No. _Until I was told what to do._ I sighed and then stuck out my own hand and shaking his. "Deal."

He smiled then and for a second it was the most beautiful thing in the world to me.

"Now Bella, you need to eat." He sat on the end of the bed and watched me cautiously.

I took a deep breath, picked up the bowl and started eating. I could deal with this. Everything was going to be fine.


	7. The Human in the House

**So here's the last chapter to be posted up before this site is caught up with Twilighted (where I originally posted this fic). Thanks for all being so lovely about it, in reviews and favouriting and story alerting. At some point I will reply to all of them, but am a wee bit busy just at the moment.**

**Thanks and much love and hugs once again go to my awesome beta ms_ambrosia (she rocks) who does all the hard work on this fic – I just write it, she makes it good.**

**Enjoy and thanks for reading.**

* * *

**The Human in the House**

**EmPOV**

"_...such jealousy to be quieted? How was the truth to reach him? How, in all the peculiar disadvantages of their respective situations, would he ever learn her real sentiments? It was misery to think of Mr Elliot's attentions. – Their evil was incalculable."_

Finishing the sentence, I closed the book and looked down at Bella propped up against me. Her breathing was deep and her eyes half-closed as she listened to the story.

"I think we're done for tonight, Bells. You're going to fall asleep if we aim for another chapter."

A small sigh and a nod were the only indications that she had heard me and hadn't already drifted into unconsciousness. Moving carefully, I placed the book on the bedside table and slid out from under Bella. Supporting her head with one hand, I tried to dislodge her with as little disruption as possible.

Finally making my way off the bed, I leaned over to brush a kiss to the top of her head, brushing a few stray hairs away from her face. "Night, Bells. Sweet dreams."

Ah, yes. Bella's dreams. Vastly entertaining to torment her with, particularly as she never remembered exactly what she had said in her sleep.

I was halfway across the room before her small voice, croaky with sleep, stopped me.

"Emmett..."

"Yes, Bells?" I asked, making my way back over to her.

"You like me right?"

I frowned slightly, trying to work out where she was going with this. "Of course I like you Bells. I don't just read Jane Austen for anyone, you know," I joked, trying to lighten her mood.

"And Jasper likes me, too? And Carlisle? And Esme, even though I'm mean to her sometimes?"

Bella still hadn't particularly warmed to Esme in the last two months. Jasper had assumed that she was trying to push the boundaries she had been set – to see how far she could push us before we snapped, with Esme being an easy target. He was still ordering her around, telling her what to do and when to do it, but she didn't seem to mind. I think she liked not having to make the decisions for herself. So she ate when Jasper told her to, took showers and brushed her teeth when he told her to, did schoolwork that we collected for her when he told her to and even went to sleep when he told her to. Carlisle theorised that Bella found the structure comforting amongst the turmoil that she was suffering over her parents' deaths.

He also theorized that that was why she hadn't bonded with him or Esme as much as she had with Jasper or I. Bella was brought up as an only child; she had never had brothers, therefore it was easy for her to accept us as such. On the other hand, she had had two loving parents and was in no hurry to have their position in her life usurped by Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle didn't push, understanding that she would need time and space to heal before seeing him in a parental light, but Esme...

Esme just couldn't help herself. She was a natural mother, fussing over all of us. And when she tried to fuss over Bella too, she was usually met by stony silence, scathing contempt or an abundance of tears. She was trying to hold back on her affections towards Bella and our little sister was slowly coming around, but every now and then there would be another misstep and Bella would snap once more.

Returning my attention towards Bella, I answered her question. "Yes, Bells. Jasper and Carlisle love you, and so does Esme, even if you are a wicked old witch to her sometimes."

Bella flushed at my gentle rebuke, her eyes darting away before returning to mine. "Why doesn't Edward?"

"Why doesn't Edward what?"

"Like me."

And there was another ongoing issue - my absentee brother. In many ways I understood where he was coming from, having twice experienced the same spike of lust for a particular human's blood. But Edward wasn't just scared of accidentally feeding on Bella and destroying our family. He was actually completely petrified of Bella herself.

I personally found this hilarious, the poor little virgin. He skulked around the house, clearly used to the scent by now, avoiding Bella's room and ducking and weaving out of sight whenever she ventured into the rest of the house. He wouldn't talk to her, no matter what Esme said, or however much Jasper and I ragged on him.

"What are you talking about? Of course Edward likes you, Bells. Who wouldn't?"

"But I never see him," she whispered. "He never talks to me or comes to see me or anything."

I snorted loudly in amusement, causing Esme downstairs to mutter "manners" at me.

"That's not because he doesn't like you. It s just because he's a giant puss... pansy. Edward's never had to live with a girl before is all."

Bella huffed at my explanation and sat up, staring at her hands twisting together in her lap. "He lives with Esme though and she's a girl."

"Yeah, but not a real one," I explained cheerfully.

Sudden silence descended upon the house and I could tell that everyone had stopped what they were doing and were now avidly listening to this conversation. A hiss from downstairs was growing rapidly louder to the point where any second now Bella would be able to hear it. _Shit!_

"I mean... she's like a mom to us, yeah. So we don't look at her as being like a proper chick, yeah. 'Cause she's our mom... she's not like a real woman or anything to us... Well, maybe to Carlisle... but not to us, like me or Edward or Jasper, so it's not really the same thing is it?" I was frantically back-pedalling with no clue as to whether or not it was actually working.

The hissing downstairs was now loud enough that even Bella could hear it and she clapped a hand over her mouth, giggling quietly into it. I was in so much deep shit by now, I knew there was no chance of saving myself, so I decided to finish answering Bella's question before Esme came up here and tried to take an arm off in punishment.

"I think Edward just hasn't spent time with you yet because he doesn't want to intrude upon you, Bella. He's never had a little sister before and so he's just keeping his distance until he knows how to act around you. It doesn't mean he doesn't like you, we all love you Bells. If we didn't you'd have been breakfast already."

She stuck her tongue out at me at this, before smirking. A sign of progress: we could now joke about having Bella as a snack without her believing that it really was going to happen.

"I think you've just got to remember that living with a human is as strange for us, as living with vampires is for you, ok?"

Bella nodded before sliding back down under her covers. "I don't think I'm tired anymore now," she announced.

"You need to go to sleep now Bella or you'll be worn out tomorrow." The voice came from behind me and I turned to glance at Jasper, only to do a double-take when I saw Edward standing slightly behind him.

"But I was talking to Emmett before and now I'm not tired," Bella whined. "Can't Emmett stay and read me some more of my book 'til I fall asleep again?"

A slow smile that I immediately didn't like crossed Jasper's face. "Emmett can't read to you anymore this evening." He turned to face me, his grin becoming more pronounced the longer he held my gaze. A paralyzing shot of dread filled me and I glared at its maker. "Esme asked if you wouldn't mind speaking with her downstairs, Emmett."

Looking around the room, I saw that all of them, even Edward, now had the exact same grin on all their faces and I was tempted to wipe it off. Esme was waiting though, so I decided to settle for getting my own back on at least one of them. I was going to be damned if I was the only one to feel uncomfortable this evening.

"Seeing as I have to go and speak to Esme urgently, why don't you read Bella another chapter Edward?" His grin had now turned to a glare and I mentally stuck my finger up at him. If I was going down, I was taking someone with me. "I sure she'd have no problem falling asleep to your voice, would she?"

Edward looked set to decline before he caught a glance at the pleading look on Bella's face. She was so desperate for him to like her.

"Of course," he agreed through gritted teeth. "I'd love to."

Jasper crossed over the floor to kiss Bella's forehead, whilst I fetched the book from the table where I'd left it. "Goodnight Bells. See you in the morning."

She waved at Jasper and then me as we left the room, and as I walked past Edward I slammed the book into his chest.

"Chapter Twenty-One, brother. And make it good."

Whistling my way down the stairs, I turned the corner into the lounge only to bring my body to a complete halt at the look of fury and disdain that I was greeted with.

"Not really a woman, Emmett?" Esme wasn't even trying to hold back the snarls that ripped through her chest and I winced back, holding my hands up in surrender.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Carlisle smirking at me behind his wife's back. _Smarmy bastard_.

"Well, I think I might go for a hunt now," he announced blithely, standing up and throwing his paper onto the coffee table. "Jasper, would you care to join me?"

_That's right; abandon me in my hour of need_.

They both waltzed out the back door as Esme began screeching at me about proper respect and what would Bella think and...

...and I heard one of the best sounds in this house for a long time.

Edward's clear tones rang down the stairs to where I was standing.

"_Anne recollected with pleasure the next morning her promise of going to Mrs Smith; meaning that it should engage her from home at the time when Mr Elliot would be most likely to call; for to avoid Mr Elliot was almost a first object."_

Emmett: 1, Edward: 0.

**CPOV**

It was late; the house was quiet for once and I welcomed the calm.

Bella was finally coming to terms with living with us and we were all better for it. Now we just had to deal with the everyday issues that came from having a human in the house.

Emmett was in his element, playing the role of a big brother to perfection and winning Bella's trust as he did so. I reminded myself to have a quiet word with him after Christmas. Bella was starting school with the others in January and I was concerned over how his overprotective behaviour would appear to Bella's peers. While she understood that we would have to move on again after a few years to protect our identities, I also didn't want her to miss out on any human interactions and relationships that would have been formed if she had had a normal life.

Which meant that I would also have to speak with Jasper. Bella relied on him completely as an authority figure and whilst I was happy that she felt she could turn to him for guidance, I also realised how strange it would appear to the humans that she would rely on her brother, but not her parents.

I could tell by Esme's increasing excitement as we got closer to the New Year that she was looking forward to having the opportunity to properly take on a motherly role towards Bella. I tried to restrain her – I could see that Bella was more comfortable with us in the role of an uncle and aunt – but she was unable to completely reign herself in. It was her natural instinct to mother. At least Bella was no longer screaming at her.

"Bella's asleep now." My youngest son entered the room.

That was another remarkable change in the family dynamic. Through Emmett's intervention, Edward was now alternating with him on reading to Bella before bed. He was not yet relaxed enough around her to sit on the bed with her as Emmett did, but he was no longer avoiding her and had apparently contained his bloodlust enough to remain in a closed room with her for a prolonged period of time.

"You shouldn't have read to her for so long," Jasper commented, looking up from the textbook he was studying. "She should have been asleep half an hour ago. You indulge her too much."

Edward bristled, as Emmett glanced up from a replay of the game on TV. "Chill, Jasper. I read to her this late yesterday and she was fine."

"She's fine at the moment, but she's starting to become more tired during the day and it'll get worse when she's expected to go to school. You both need to stop pandering to her whims all the time. It's not good for her health. Carlisle wouldn't you agree?"

Everyone was now engaged in this conversation, our individual pursuits all abandoned.

I sighed heavily, unwilling to enter the argument which I knew was brewing. "I think that we should trust Bella to know when she needs to sleep." Jasper was now glaring daggers at me. "However," I added, "I do think we'll have to look at set bedtimes when she does go back to school." I saw this as an opportunity to bring up the parenting issue. "I'm sure when that happens there will be several household rules that Esme and I will have to think about implementing in order to ensure that Bella doesn't become... distracted... when dealing with the change in circumstances."

Edward smirked at whatever thoughts he had just purloined from my mind, whilst Jasper cocked an eyebrow. Emmett was busy muttering to himself about how he was helping Bella to 'have fun' rather than 'distracting' her.

"And what if she chooses not to listen to Esme and yourself? So far she's looked to me for guidance. Are you suddenly going to tell her that that's no longer acceptable?" Although his words were challenging, Jasper looked crestfallen at the thought that he would be shunted to the side when considering Bella's welfare.

Edward was starting to fidget uncomfortably, probably due to the mental bombardment he was almost certainly being subjected to. This argument was quickly beginning to escalate and the distress that Jasper was beginning to emit was heightening the room's discomfort.

My lovely wife, ever the peacemaker, decided to try and calm him before we all got so upset that complete carnage erupted. The last time that had happened we had completed destroyed our house and several of our neighbours' in New York State and had to swiftly relocate to avoid suspicion. "Jasper, no-one's trying to dismiss the influence you've had on Bella while she's been staying with us. We just think..."

She paused, and then froze, her head slowly turning to face the stairs that she was standing close to. Esme's hesitation was out-of-character and fearing that Jasper had sent a strong spike of emotion at her I took a step towards her and then also stopped.

Blood.

Upstairs.

_Bella._

About to run to check on her, I turned sharply upon hearing a snarling whimper, bracing my body for the attack I knew I was about to stop.

But it never came.

I had to peer around Emmett, who had taking up the same crouched guarding position as me, to see Edward huddled upon the floor, the source of the pained noises which resounded though the lounge. His body was violently trembling with the obvious effort it took to keep him from attacking; his hands were clawed, fingers easily tearing through the wooden flooring.

Jasper, by contrast, remained on the sofa but was now deathly still, his hands clenched into tight fists. He appeared to be concentrating intently and after a tense five seconds calm began to spread heavily through all of our bodies.

Edward slowly stopped whimpering, taking a deep breath before sprinting out the glass patio doors without opening them.

Emmett shuffled his feet, ducking his head in embarrassment. "I might go join Edward hunting, you know, make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

I nodded then smiled at him, understanding what he was trying not to say. "Of course, Emmett. Make sure you take as much time as you need."

He inclined his head towards me, grabbing Jasper – who still hadn't moved – and practically throwing the two of them out the already broken window.

I turned back to my wife. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I just..." She wrung her hands together. "I need to check and make sure she's alright."

"Of course," I immediately complied, taking her hand and running up to Bella's bedroom.

We entered cautiously, uncertain as to what we might find – which was nothing.

Bella was fast asleep, curled into a small ball in the middle of her bed. Yet I could still strongly smell blood. Taking a step towards her, I was stopped by Esme gently but forcefully placing her hands on my chest.

"I think I'll take care of this Carlisle."

I gazed down questioningly at her and she smirked up at me.

"Think of how old she is, love. This is a conversation best kept between us girls."

Comprehension followed by embarrassment was swift. "I think you're right. I might go and catch up with the boys, let them know what's going on and how they're going to deal with it. The last thing we'll want is Emmett unconsciously making crude remarks in front of Bella. I don't imagine she'll be too happy about the situation... or the pitfalls involved with living with vampires."

Esme pressed a soft kiss on my lips before smacking my ass as I turned to leave the room. "Go. Do damage control. We'll be fine."

Reaching the hall, something suddenly occurred to me. "Esme? Just... I know you'll do your best for her, but don't let her take advantage of your kindness."

"I won't," she promised.

Making my way out the house, I couldn't miss the horrified shriek which rang out from the second storey.

"_What do mean you can smell me!?"_

Picking up speed, I began to track down the boys and caught up with them just in time to see them take on an entire herd of deer. With the burning in my throat increasing every moment, I happily threw myself into the fray.

When we later returned to the house Bella was asleep again and the smell of fresh blood was now significantly reduced. To this day I never knew what Bella and Esme had talked about, my wife refused to tell me. This was one of those occasions when I almost envied Edward his gift. Whatever was said had obviously made a positive impact as from then on the tension in the house between the two women was practically non-existent. Whilst still not entirely at ease with Esme's motherly overtures, Bella was at least not violently rejecting them anymore.

The house was almost peaceful for once. I wondered how long that would last when Bella finally joined the boys at school next year.


	8. Blood Red

**Ok so this is the last chapter I have to give you, before I revert back to my posting schedule of every other week. Once again thanks for all the reviews (I've made it my New Year's resolution to finally get round to answering them all), I appreciate them.**

**Massive thanks to my amazing beta ms_ambrosia.**

**I only own the plot to this, do me a favour and don't nick it. Thanks.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

**Blood Red**

**BPOV**

Sometimes I dreaded going to sleep. The memories became too much for me and I knew that I would be tormented in my dreams the second my head hit the pillow. No, not dreams. _Nightmares_.

Over time I was beginning to recognise the signs before I went to bed. Those were the nights that I begged either Emmett or Edward to read just one more chapter, just ten more minutes, before they left the room and switched the lights off. The dark had become my greatest enemy. These vampires I lived with didn't even come close to the fear that the absence of light created within me.

Tonight was going to be awful; I could already tell.

I was back in the woods, running for my life. Only this time the crashing sound of my pursuer echoed behind me. I ran faster, the branches of the trees whipped through my hair and slapped my face as I passed. I could smell the blood that ran from the wounds that I had sustained, only when I caught a glimpse of my arms there was more than I could ever have imagined. The bright red streaked across my skin in twisted road maps and my pursuer began emitting blood-curdling roars and growls. The blood had now streaked down to my lower stomach and its sticky warmth seemed to puddle around my legs. A cold hand wrapped around my upper arms and my head jolted upwards to face my attacker...

...only to find myself gazing into the golden eyes of Esme.

I yanked myself backwards, scrambling until I hit the headboard.

"What... What's going on? What are you doing here? Where's Emmett?"

"Bella honey," Esme reached out to me, only to see me flinch away from her comforting touch. "Emmett had to go out hunting... and so did the other boys. There were..." She seemed to hesitate for a moment. "...exceptional circumstances that made it necessary."

I stared blankly at her, not understanding why I had been woken up just to be informed that the boys were hunting.

"They had to leave, Bella, because you were bleeding."

It was delivered so calmly, yet the very thought of bleeding in this house full of vampires terrified me. A whimper escaped my suddenly closed throat. Once again I was scrambling this time in an attempt to free myself from the covers wrapped tightly around my lower half.

Where was I bleeding? And more importantly how was I bleeding? I hadn't had any cuts or injuries when I went to bed. Had one of them done something to me?

Esme obviously sensed my panic as she gently grasped my hands, stopping them from continuing their frantic assessment of my body. "You've got your period, Bella."

Once again I was left staring blankly at her. I knew what she meant of course. My mom had insisted on giving me a rather detailed description of the female reproductive system the day after my twelfth birthday. It preceded a separate talk on boys, sex and masturbation which had left me blushing furiously and unable to function coherently in a co-ed school environment for the month after. What did confuse me though, was how Esme – _and,_ _oh God, Jasper, Emmett, Edward and Carlisle_ – knew. I was always under the impression that I would have to let my mom, or in this case I suppose Esme now, know and they would help me sort it all out.

If I wanted answers I was going to have to talk about this, no matter how mortifying it might be. Flushing heavily, I whispered, "How do you know Esme... you know, that I... that I'm, that I've got...?" I was stuttering by now, unable to finish the question, but almost begging Esme psychically to understand and not make me say it out loud.

Luck was on my side. "We can smell it, Bella. We can smell the changes in your body as they happen."

_What?!_

I stared at her in horror. Surely she didn't mean... They could smell me. They all knew I was on my period. They would always know every single time?

"_What do you mean you can smell me!?_"

From Esme's wince I could tell that I had shouted that slightly too loudly, but I didn't care. _They could smell me!_ I was living in a household of vampires who could smell it every single time I started bleeding. Every. Single. Time.

I started crying. Esme tried to reach out to comfort me, but I shied away from her touch, feeling so much more vulnerable than I ever had in this house.

I needed to think this through – they could smell when I had my period, so what else could they smell? Did they know when I went to toilet, when my stomach gurgled, when I took showers? Could they tell when I had nightmares, when I cried over my parents, when I was in pain?

God, was I never going to have any privacy at all, ever again?

"You can smell when I have my period?" Esme confirmed this with a nod. "What about other stuff?"

"What other stuff, sweetheart?"

"Other stuff," I cried, angry that I had to spell this out to her. "Other _human_ stuff. You can tell when I have my period, right? You can smell the blood... and other changes in my body."

"Yes, the blood obviously makes an impact upon our vampiric senses, but we can also sense any hormonal or other physical changes within your body. In terms of your menstruation this means that from now on we'll be able to sense when you're ovulating and fertile." This was delivered with a kind smile, as if Esme could tell how difficult this conversation was for me. "In terms of physical changes we can identify when you're afraid, when you're ill, when you're aroused..."

"What!" I screeched loudly again. "What did you just say?!" By this point I had leaned forward and grabbed Esme's arms in a desperate hold. I would have shaken her if I thought it would have made any impact.

"Bella," Esme began calmly, gently removing my hands from where they banded around her biceps and gathering me closer to her, so that I was enclosed in a loose embrace. "All of those things produce chemical reactions in your body which we can identify. In some ways this is a good thing, as it means we can look after you properly and make sure that you're kept safe and well. As for those... other things," she hesitated. "Yes, we can tell when you use the bathroom and attend to your other bodily functions. Our senses are too sharp for us to be oblivious to it."

I was suddenly angry, an emotion I had become very close to in the last few months. So this was a vampire thing. This was all about the vampires who decided to keep a human pet. If I was back home with my mom and dad none of this would be an issue. Living with vampires was robbing me of my privacy and dignity. I couldn't even be human without feeling embarrassed and ashamed of it in this house. Poor little Bella! I bet they got a kick out of how oblivious I was.

So naturally, being so furious that I could start screaming and never stop, I immediately burst into uncontrollable sobs.

Esme immediately pulled me into a full-blown hug and for once I let her. I needed the comfort too much to push her away like I would have done normally. Esme didn't try to stop my tears, but let me cry it all out while she gently rocked me, murmuring nonsensical soothing words.

When I had stopped crying, and then stopped hiccupping afterwards, I attempted to speak, gasping my words out as I fought for breath.

"Why do I... live here, Esme... Why can't I live... somewhere else with... other humans? ...Why can't I just... live somewhere... normal?"

"Oh, sweetheart," Esme whispered, pressing a kiss to the crown of my head. "Do you remember what happened...? Before Edward rescued you."

My mind struggled to remember the details I had willingly suppressed. Fear. My fear. Their fear. Running through the trees. The pain – shooting through my leg and arm. The cold. Feeling completely numb... and then the car ride. Edward.

"I ran. I ran and then Edward brought me here."

"Do you remember what happened to the vampires that kidnapped you though, Bella? They ran too, didn't they?"

I nodded slowly, vaguely recalling the hurried mutterings I had heard before I crashed out through the window of the hut.

"They were running from the Volturi, an ancient and powerful vampire clan from Italy. They act as the lawmakers for our kind and your captors crossed the line when they killed your parents. They have only one law for vampires – we keep our presence in the world a secret from humans. They enforce this by either destroying the vampires who draw too much attention to themselves, or by destroying the humans who see or know too much."

"As in me," I finished dully. "They would kill me, wouldn't they? Because I know too much." I gripped one of the arms Esme had wrapped around me, finally realising the precariousness of my situation; finally realising why I was living here with these vampires at all.

"Yes," she confirmed. "If they knew that you were still alive, they would hunt you down and kill you. Bella Swan can't exist anymore, sweetheart. That's why you can't live with a normal human family." Her arms tightened infinitesimally around me. "You live with us because we can keep you safe... because it's the only way we can keep you safe. If we could send you out to live a perfectly normal life in the perfectly normal world we would. But that's just not possible anymore, sweetheart." She hesitated. "And I'm sorry that something like this has made living here with us uncomfortable - that's not our intention."

I had no reply for her; we just sat in silence for a while, me snuggled into her lap as she rocked me from side to side and softly stroked my hair.

"What happens now?" I whispered, unable to stand the quiet anymore.

"Now we carry on keeping you safe until you're grown up enough to decide what you want to do with your future. During your... When you weren't responding to us, Jasper had a new identity made for you, so that you'll remain in our care and we can take care of you as best as we can."

"A new identity," I repeated, bewildered. I realised that this had probably been explained to me before, but also recognised that I had been in no position to listen to any of it rationally.

"When you go back to school after Christmas we've registered you as Isabella Cullen."

"Isabella Cullen." There was the repetition again.

"Yes." She pulled back to give me a smile. "You'll be the new Cullen girl in town."

"Huh." Let it never be said that I never gave intelligent replies during conversations. I'd be the new Cullen girl. The only Cullen girl.

I'd be the Cullen girl. I'd be a Cullen.

My parents were gone. Isabella Swan was dead. But I could have a family again. A proper family. I could be a Cullen.

Suddenly I needed to apologise. "Esme, I'm really sorry for being mean to you and yelling at you and everything. You know I don't mean it, right? I just... It's just that my mom's gone and sometimes you're just so much like her and I don't... I don't want to forget her and I worry that if I let you be like her that I won't remember her and... I miss her so much."

I dissolved into tears again, hoping that Esme had managed to make some sense out of my ramblings.

"Bella." Esme cupped my face in her hands, brushing my tears off my cheeks with her thumbs. "Bella, I would never try to replace your mother. We would never try to replace any of your family. We realise that they're the people who have made you into the wonderful person you are today. As for taking their place... Did you know that I was a mother before I died?"

Staring directly into her eyes, I could tell that this was a difficult subject for her to talk about. She lowered her palms from my face, gripping my hands in my lap instead.

"Before Carlisle... saved me, I was married to another man, a cruel man... And I had a baby with him. My beautiful baby boy. He was only with me for a few weeks; he was ill you see and he couldn't fight back against infection. Anyway, I suppose some of that mothering instinct stayed with me. I'm sorry if my actions are painful to you sometimes or if I do something that reminds you of your mother. I think some maternal instincts must be universal; something all moms do."

I nodded, breaking our gaze to stare at my lap. I understood exactly what she was saying; how often had my friends' moms behaved in the exact same manner or said the exact same thing that Renee would have.

"I'm still sorry all the same."

Once again we sat in silence, but this time it wasn't strained or awkward.

Suddenly Esme sniffed the air around us and then frowned. "I think we should sort your period out now, Bella. Your blood loss is becoming heavier."

I cringed at the reminder of why we were even having this conversation in the first place, but realised that the more cooperative I was, the sooner this would be over. "Ok, what do I need to do?"

Esme, who had gotten off the bed, now turned to me. "Did you and your mom never talk about this?" she asked curiously.

I blushed. I was now living in a permanent state of bright redness. "Um... yeah, we did... But in was more in a 'to know for the future way'."

"Ok then." She smiled brightly at me. "Let's get you sorted out then."

Ten minutes later I was adequately padded up and protected - I could already tell I was going to have a love/hate relationship with the makers of Tampax. Esme was currently explaining to me the different type of pills that Carlisle may want to prescribe in order to make life easier for everyone, including me, in this house. Rather mortifyingly she had also explained that if I experienced period pain, Jasper, due to his gift, would experience it as well. Great! I bet he never saw that one coming. This was going to be humiliating, I could already tell.

"...don't have to worry about the boys. Carlisle has talked to them and if any of them say anything to you let me know and I'll kick their butts."

Back in bed, I smiled weakly at Esme. I could already hear the cracks that Emmett would just be dying to make.

"Bella, I mean it. None of them will bother you about this or even mention it. We accepted that we were bringing a human into our house when we rescued you and that involves accepting everything that makes you human. There's no need to be embarrassed."

Esme made her way to the door, turning out the lights as she went. Just before she left for good, I called out to her. "Esme..."

She paused, illuminated in the light coming from the hallway. In that moment she looked a bit like an angel to me.

"Can I..." The words choked in my throat. "Can I have a hug... please?" I asked, scared that she would say 'no'.

Instead she didn't say anything, merely returning to the side of my bed and gathering me in her arms. I clung to her tightly, glad that she was there, but sad that my mother couldn't be.

As I buried my face in her neck and breathed in her sweet scent, I heard her begin speaking quietly to me.

"I realise that you didn't ask to become a member of this family, but please don't ever think that we would ask you to forget where you came from. We left Alaska pretty quickly and left a lot behind." She pulled back to look at me speculatively. "If I can, would you like me to see if I can salvage anything from your old life? Some photos of your parents perhaps?"

I stared at her for a moment, completely emotionally overwhelmed, before throwing myself at her. It hurt. I winced as all of my breath left my chest in a huge whoosh at the impact.

Esme laughed softly before laying me back and tucking my covers around my shoulders. "I'll take that as a 'yes' then, shall I." She shook her head lightly, still chuckling. "Goodnight Bella."

"Goodnight Esme. Thank you."

She waved at me before closing the door gently behind her. I hugged my pillow tight and quickly drifted off to sleep, the load on my mind a lot lighter than it had been before.

Maybe I did like Esme after all.


	9. Breaking and Entering

**So here's a treat for you all, this chapter is ending up posted earlier on here than on Twilighted like usual. I hope you all enjoy it, next chapter coming Bella goes to school with the boys.**

**Lots and millions of thanks to my amazing beta ms_ambrosia who works wonders with my writing to make it readable for you all and to arden8283 for kicking my ass to get this chapter written.**

**Thanks to everyone who continues to review and favourite this fic, I really appreciate it and one day I will get round to replying to you all.**

**As always, I own nothing and SM owns all.**

**Breaking and Entering**

**JPOV**

I tore through the forest surrounding the house, Edward already miles ahead, Emmett by my side. Catching the scent of a herd of deer to my left I swerved abruptly, heading in that direction. Reaching an empty clearing I noted that several carcasses already littered the sodden path and the trampling of hooves was getting further away as the herd attempted to flee their attacker.

"Looks like Eddie's on the rampage," Emmett smirked as we surveyed the damage.

"Emmett, don't pick on your brother. You know he's having trouble dealing with living in close proximity to Bella. There's no need to rub it in." Carlisle had joined us by now.

"Who's rubbing it in? He's not even here anyway; it's not like I'm hurting his feelings."

"No, but he'll be here in a minute."

Carlisle had caught the sound of the herd changing direction once more, being driven towards us. Wordlessly we all split up, taking different positions within the clearing. After a few minutes the first deer in the herd came into view and I immediately pounced on the unsuspecting creature from my perch on top of a mossy rock.

An hour later, after we had all gorged ourselves so much that the blood sloshed around our stomachs, and disposed of the left over bodies, we all sat around the clearing in various states of relaxation.

"So," Emmett began, breaking the silence that had fallen. "Why was Bella bleeding earlier?" He sat up, suddenly alert, as if something had just occurred to him. Concern was radiating out from his body. "She's not hurt, is she? She's alright?"

Taking a deep breath I tried to resonate calm out around our group, despite Emmett's concern now being joined by my own. We had all been so worried about getting out of the house and away from Bella's blood that it had never occurred to us to question why Bella was bleeding in the first case.

"Is she alright?"

"How did she hurt herself?"

"I knew I shouldn't have let her borrow those scissors earlier."

We all turned to look at Emmett questioningly. "What? We've been making a scrapbook; you need scissors to cut shit out for it."

Edward and I both snorted at that, while Carlisle tried to hide his amusement.

"You've been making a scrapbook, Emmett? God, you're such a girl. No wonder you spend so much time with Bella; at least that way you can hide all your girly crafts projects by saying that they're all her idea."

A growl was my only warning before I was pounced on, my face ground into the mud. Getting one arm loose I managed to grab Emmett around the neck, lifting his weight up far enough to get my legs between us. Flexing my muscles I kicked upwards, sending him flying over Carlisle's head. An unfortunate tree bore the brunt of Emmett's considerable bulk, halting his path but losing its roots on the process.

Hitting the ground hard, Emmett immediately threw himself into a crouched attack position which mirrored my own. Being typical Emmett though he chose not to change his standard attack of lunging at someone and hoping his strength would take them down.

I waited until he was flying through the air at me before shooting my arms out, palms facing forwards, and knocking him backwards where he crashed into Edward. The two immediately began scrabbling around, trying to pin each other down and, laughing at them, I resumed my seated position.

"Edward. Emmett. Can you please come and sit down? We need to talk about this and we can't do that if you two are fighting. And you can wipe that smile off your face Jasper; that goes for you as well."

I carefully schooled my features into a mask of polite interest, sitting again with my back propped against a convenient boulder. Emmett and Edward detangled and flopped down next to an uprooted tree. As if it were rehearsed, we all turned to face Carlisle at the same time.

"So, Bella," I prompted.

"Yes, well." Carlisle fidgeted for a moment and I frowned at the unnecessary movement.

"Is she alright? Nothing's wrong is it?"

"No, no." He was quick to reassure us. "It's just unexpected. I mean given her age if shouldn't be, but with all the trauma I just didn't think to prepare for it."

"Prepare for what?" Edward interrupted, all of us puzzled by Carlisle's muttering.

"The blood that you sensed wasn't from any injury. Bella is currently menstruating, that's all."

Emmett and I both let out short guffaws of surprise, while Edward repeated "menstruating" questioningly.

"Yeah, you know, Eddie. Menstruating. Having her period, on the rag, having a visit from Aunt Flow, riding the crimson wave…"

"Emmett!" Carlisle's sharp rebuke halted my brother's merciless teasing of Edward. "This is exactly why we're having this conversation now and not back at the house."

"Sorry about Emmett," I apologised. "He still gets excited over the locker-room talk at school."

Carlisle tiredly rubbed a hand over his face before running it through his hair. "Look, I know that you may think this is funny now, but please try to remember how you felt earlier when you thought that Bella was injured. Even though she's safe for now you weren't sounding quite so composed earlier when she was bleeding freely in the house. You all know that she could have been hurt very easily by one of you as a result."

"Sorry," we all muttered.

"What does this mean now then?" Edward asked. "I mean, for living in the same house as her."

"Well first of all I wanted to say how proud I was that none of you attacked when it first became apparent that she was bleeding."

I shifted uncomfortably at the praise, not entirely sure that I deserved it. Edward nodded lightly at me, agreeing with my unspoken thought. "I'm not sure we deserve your praise just yet, Carlisle."

Our father nodded thoughtfully. "I could see that it was a struggle, but it was obviously a battle that each of you won. Why was that do you think? Is your immunity to blood growing stronger, I wonder?"

Edward chuckled rather bitterly. "It wasn't really a victory though, was it? God, I could barely stop myself from going up there and just tearing into her."

Emmett growled in warning at Edward's confession, who merely buried his face into his hands in response. His feelings of unworthiness and self-loathing slammed into me, sending me reeling. The level of his guilt was astronomical despite him not laying a hand on her.

"Edward, Bella's blood appeals to you on a very primal level, yet you have been in her presence twice now while she's been bleeding and not attacked her. You're stronger than you give yourself credit for."

Edward shook his head, still hiding his face from us, and I could tell that it would take a long time for him to forgive himself for his perceived fault.

Carlisle also seemed to draw this conclusion, turning to direct his attention towards me instead. "What about yourself, Jasper. Do you think the bloodlust is getting easier to deal with? I have to say your resilience this evening was very impressive to behold."

Although I was embarrassed by the attention, I was also proud of myself. For too long in this family I had been the weak link, the one most likely to slip. Yet now a human had been bleeding in my house, an enclosed space, not twenty feet away from me and I had managed to stop myself from attacking. I wasn't too over-confident of my abilities however. I knew exactly why I had been able to restrain myself.

"I don't think it's getting easier in general," I began cautiously. "Or that if some random human starting bleeding heavily in front of me I would be able to resist. In fact I think it may be just Bella."

Emmett nodded wisely, as if he understood exactly what I was trying to say.

"I don't know whether it's because I'm so used to her scent now, but I just couldn't see her hurt now, not by me, not by anyone." This time it was me running a hand through my hair in frustration. "It's almost as if I feel like I've put so much effort into keeping her alive that I refuse to see her hurt by anyone, even me. Taking care of her… helping to look after her… It's almost like I need it."

I looked to Carlisle beseechingly. "That's why I need to keep looking after her. I'm sorry that I got angry at you and Esme earlier, but helping Bella, giving her guidance, it also helps me. It's like… it grounds me and gives me something to think about… other than the bloodlust," I finished rather lamely.

Everyone stared at me silently, Carlisle sympathetically and Emmett and Edward incredulously.

"Wow, dude, that was almost deep."

I glared at Emmett while Edward snorted into his sleeve.

"No no no. I'm not taking the piss, brother. I get what you're saying. It's like we're so focused on keeping Bella going all the time that we just don't want her to… stop." Satisfied that he had made his point, Emmett nodded decisively.

"Well, however it is, it's good that everyone now feels that they can at least get out the house before they hurt Bella. No doubt your resistance will increase the more it is tested."

"The more it's tested?" Edward shouted. "This is going to happen again in the future?"

Carlisle raised a hand, commanding our attention once more. "Yes, this will happen again. You've attended medical school, Edward. The menstrual cycle traditionally follows a twenty-eight day pattern, so you'll have to cope with Bella bleeding roughly once a month."

Edward looked positively green at the thought of this and I wondered how he would cope in the years to come. Emmett, on the other hand, appeared completely unphased by the topic of conversation and I remembered that he had previously spoken of growing up in a large family with four sisters. This was clearly nothing new to him.

"Now, Esme is speaking with Bella about her options now and hopefully she will agree to being placed on a contraceptive pill. This will not only reduce the blood flow, but it will regulate her periods so that when the time comes each month you will all be adequately prepared for it."

Carlisle had obviously decided that the only way to make it intact through this conversation was to go into doctor mode, lecturing us about what to expect and how to deal with it. What this did reveal though was one little side effect that none of us had considered.

"Jasper's gonna get PMS? Dude, you're gonna be like all hormonal and shit."

"Emmett," Carlisle reprimanded. "While Bella may experience some hormonal changes which influence her moods and behaviour, it won't be any stronger than any emotional change that Jasper would experience from any of us. What I was trying to say, before I was interrupted," he turned to glare at Emmett who held his hands up innocently. "Was that if Bella experiences any… discomfort… Jasper may pick up on it."

"Whatever. It's all the same to me. Jasper's going to get PMS. That's fucking funny."

Annoyed at his taunting I sent a bolt of fear straight at my brother, causing him to freeze in alarm.

"Enough!" Carlisle had obviously tired of our antics. "This is precisely the kind of behaviour that I don't want to see in the house. I want Bella to believe that you are all completely clueless as to her physical state. I will not have her embarrassed in her own home and I know that Esme won't stand for it either. This is the first and last time we will talk about this and I expect you all to act in a mature and sensitive way around Bella. She's probably no more thrilled by the situation she finds herself in than you are."

He directed his attention towards Emmett. "That means no jokes and no pointed comments. It doesn't matter if she's not present or you're not in the house. That sort of talk ends now."

"But what about Jasper? Can't I just…"

"No. Like I said, you will not mention this again. Esme is talking to Bella about potential side effects and no doubt she is already aware of Jasper's position in all of this. I don't want her catching any teasing from you on the subject; it will only make her feel worse about the situation than she already does. Am I clear?"

We each mumbled our assent, Emmett slightly more begrudgingly than Edward and I. While I knew he adored Bella and wouldn't want to embarrass her, that protective urge was slight overcome by his desire to mock me.

"Right, well I think it's time to make our way back now. Edward you've got a door to fix and board up until we can get replacement glass. And remember if any of you begin to have problems with the scent, no-one will think the worse of you for having to leave."

I could already tell that we weren't going to be seeing much of Edward during these occasions. As much as I loved to take the piss out of my brother, the look of sheer terror on his face tempered my amusement. This wasn't going to be easy for any of us. We would manage to cope though. For Bella.

Upon reaching the house though we weren't given an opportunity to stay for long. Esme came out to meet us on the back porch and handed Emmett and I a rucksack each.

"Edward you need to repair the damage you've done to the house. That means the sliding doors _and_ the floor and carpet in the living room."

"What are the bags for?" I asked, jostling it in my hand to weigh up the contents.

"Oh, that's just a change of clothes for both of you. I need you to go to Alaska for me." She smiled breezily at us as if she asked us to randomly travel cross-country every day.

"What for?" Emmett asked the question I was thinking.

"Well, when I was talking to Bella earlier it occurred to me that not only was she forced to leave her home and her family behind, but she also lost all evidence that they existed. So I thought that it would be nice if you boys could go back to her hometown and maybe liberate some of her possessions, photos and the like, for her to have."

Shrugging in agreement, we soon found ourselves in Emmett's jeep speeding our way back up to our old home. When we got there, however, we found that 'liberating' a few photos wasn't going to be as easy as it sounded.

For one, the death of Bella's family was still being treated as an unsolved case, meaning that her home was still a crime scene, with everything inside being held as evidence. Secondly, the place was swarming with police, which we found strange given that the attacks had happened several months before.

Upon circling the property it became apparent that all the extra manpower was a result of one of Bella's sneakers being found by a hiker in the woods. The cops had now renewed their hope that this new evidence would lead them to the Swans' killers and they had stepped up their efforts to solve the case. I grimaced at the thought – Bella's new identity papers hadn't come through a moment too soon. Hopefully this new furore wouldn't last very long and I wondered if they had found the cabin where she had been held captive yet.

"Ok, we need to create a diversion to get in."

"Right," Emmett agreed. "So who's doing what?"

I looked at him and grinned. "How do you feel about being a bear for a day?"

"Sweet." He bumped fists with me. I honestly thought Emmett was probably the only person in the country over the age of ten who could get excited over acting like a bear.

Vanishing into the darkness that surrounded the house, I rolled my eyes when thirty seconds later some incredibly contrived growling and crashing sounds began emanating from the surrounding forest.

Oh well, at least the cops were diverted.

Slipping into an open window on the second floor I gazed around the room I found myself in with curiosity. The plain furniture and minimal decoration told me that this was Bella's parents' old room. Opening the wardrobe and drawers I immediately began searching for any photos or albums that I could take, stuffing them inside my rucksack as I found them.

A glint of light off a reflective surface caught my eye and I turned to find a framed picture sitting on a bedside table. Making my way over, I picked the image up, running my finger over the smiling faces. It was fascinating to see the original features that blended together to give Bella her distinctive look.

Slipping the photo out of its frame another detail within it peaked my interest. Wrapped tightly in the young Bella's arms was a worn stuffed bear that looked thoroughly well-loved. This Bella was softer and not as disillusioned as the one that currently resided with us; that bear was a symbol of that. For a moment I mourned her lost childhood and the horrors she had been subjected to.

Without conscious thought I found my feet making their way out into the hall, sniffing the air tentatively to check that I was alone in the house. I could still hear Emmett prancing around outside so presumed that I had at least another couple of minutes to gather my loot.

Letting my nose lead me I found my way into Bella's old bedroom. Drawing and pictures littered the walls and clothes still lay abandoned on the floor, and there on the bed…

_Yes_. My hand grasped the cuddly toy before carefully placing it on top of the photos in my bag.

"Jasper, we gotta get out of here now. They're not buying it anymore." Emmett's whisper cut through my contemplation and I swiftly made my way back out of the house, disappearing into the trees just as a cop swept round the back of the property.

"That was fun." Emmett was practically jumping around in glee. "Those cops were so scared and all I had to do was uproot a couple of trees."

Heading back towards the jeep I was caught unawares when he reached forward sharply to grab my bag out of my hands. "What did you find?" As we climbed into the jeep Emmett began rifling through the contents.

"Jasper man, what is this?" He held up the stuffed bear, shaking it in my face.

"It's a bear, Emmett." I refused to be drawn into this conversation any further. I knew that Emmett had promised Carlisle not to make any jokes at me, but between the PMS and the bear, I knew he wouldn't be able to resist making a crack at my masculinity.

"It's for Bella. There's a photo in there of her with it and she looked happy, so just shut up ok?"

"I'm not saying anything, brother. I'm just glad that you're finally comfortable enough to express your sensitive side."

Still waving the bear at me, I plucked it out of his grasp only to throw it back at his head. "Laugh it up, Emmett. I'm not the one making scrapbooks."

Pouting, Emmett slid further down in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest and inadvertently hugging the bear to him. "Yeah, but that's just for Bella."

Smirking, I shook my head as I turned on the ignition. It seemed like we were all tightly whipped now; all under the control of one tiny human girl. _For Bella indeed_.


	10. First Day

**So here's the next chapter – at long last – so I hope you all enjoy it and I hope it was worth the wait.**

**Massive thanks to my beta ms_ambrosia who helps make everything readable and to my twitter girls for the never ending WCs to get this written.**

**Thank you also to everyone who continues to review, favourite and support this fic.**

**I own nothing except the plot.**

* * *

**First Day**

**EPOV**

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

It was the tapping that got me. The repetitive clank of the nickel in Jasper's fingers upon the marble kitchen work surface was driving me crazy. I didn't blame him though – if the thoughts were bad enough then I couldn't imagine what the emotions were like.

Or rather I could. Because not only could I read his mind as he processed the emotions, I could also feel the nerves radiating out from him.

It wasn't his fault though. The tension in the house had been terrible over the weekend and every member of the household was becoming more nervous and irritable by the second. Any minute now someone was going to burst.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

Emmett's hand slammed down on Jasper's, flattening the nickel into dust.

Bella swallowed heavily before shoving another spoonful of cereal into her mouth. Even from across the room I could see that she was having trouble swallowing the food. Esme was bustling around her, alternating between manically cleaning the kitchen and fussing over Bella's appearance.

Even the normally cool Carlisle was peering anxiously over his morning newspaper at my adopted sister.

Esme was now running her hands over Bella's hair, smoothing it behind her ears as she choked down more cereal.

Emmett bounced lightly from foot to foot.

"Bella, stop." Jasper gently laid his hand over hers, halting the spoon in its path to her mouth. "You're going to make yourself sick if you try and eat anymore."

Bella obediently placed the cutlery back in the bowl, where it was promptly whisked away, washed and dried by Esme.

Carlisle cleared his throat and everyone's eyes shot to him. He wanted to check in with Bella before we left. That was good. If there were any problems we would know in advance and if necessary, as Bella's legal guardian, he could arrange to keep her home. I was sure that Esme would love the company.

"How are you feeling today, Bella? Looking forward to school?"

She nodded noncommittally and I saw Jasper frown at her, obviously reading something from her emotions that I couldn't pick up.

Esme had obviously seen Jasper's frown too. "Bella, honey, if you don't feel like going then you don't have to. You can just stay here with me and have the work brought back, like before. Isn't that right, Carlisle?"

"No, I think Bella should go to school," he replied, and my mother swivelled to face him.

"But Carlisle..."

"No." His voice was firm and I could tell from his thoughts that he would hold firm on this pronouncement. "Bella needs to get out amongst other people her age and dragging it out won't help."

He looked up at Jasper as he spoke and my brother nodded wordlessly back at him. _Ah, they had already spoken about this_. That made sense with my brother acting as Bella's unofficial guardian.

"I'll be fine." The whisper was quiet, but all of us heard it clearly. Bella was twisting her fingers anxiously, her teeth massacring her bottom lip. It was clear that she was uncomfortable with the attention that she was being given and I wondered if her nervousness was down to her own anxiety, or if the rest of the family's emotions were feeding into her.

'_Do you think this is going to go on for a while?_'

I glanced up at Emmett and nodded quickly, tilting my head towards the door. He took my cue and clapped his hands together loudly.

"Right, I say let's get a move on, otherwise we'll be late."

Everyone seemed to break out of a trance as he spoke, Bella sliding off her chair and running up the stairs to gather her coat and bag from her room. The rest of us donned our human props, ready to face the first day of term.

Emmett, Jasper and I gathered by the front door, waiting for Bella to come downstairs, Esme and Carlisle trailing behind us.

Eventually Bella clumped down the stairs, tripping on the second to last one and Jasper shot forward to catch her. She blushed as he righted her on the carpeted hall and I had to swallow down a mouthful of venom as the tinge of fresh blood lit up her face.

Esme immediately darted forward again, adjusting Bella's clothes and hair repeatedly until Carlisle wrapped his hands around her shoulders and drew her back.

"Well, have a good day at school, Bella." Esme's voice was shaky and her eyes were suspiciously bright. In her mind she was both berating herself for her neediness and trying not to hug Bella and never let her go.

"Just remember, Bella, that if you become uncomfortable or if anything happens, your brothers will be there and can either look after you or phone one of us to come and get you."

Bella smiled tremulously at Carlisle and Emmett quickly whisked her out the door. I moved to follow, but halted halfway out when Esme suddenly grabbed Jasper's arm. He froze and unconsciously considered defending himself from the perceived attack before relaxing.

"You will look after her, won't you? You won't let her be scared. What if she doesn't make any friends? What if she's doesn't do well in her classes? Will you sit with her at lunch? I'll be so worried if she doesn't have anyone to sit with..." Her mind, along her mouth, was running at an almost incomprehensible speed, her fears for Bella compounding on top of one another until she was convinced that Bella would never be happy at school and should just be tutored instead.

"Esme." Jasper had taken Esme's hands and was lightly emitting calm towards her. "We'll take care of her. Stop worrying."

I decided to rescue him. "We're going to be late."

Carlisle nodded at us both and we left hastily, unwilling to be caught up in another emotional outburst from Esme.

It was curious to observe. Esme had never really had the chance to mother any of the family properly beyond me. Being her first 'son' and the youngest when turned meant that I often received the benefit of her maternal instincts regardless of whether I needed them or not. Jasper and Emmett had been too old to benefit from excess mothering, although Emmett sometimes indulged her. So it was – and I hated to use the word – sweet to see her find a willing child who would actually gain much from her attentions.

I did think that there could be too much of a good thing though; she would need to tone down her concern if she didn't want Bella to be uncomfortable.

Climbing into the driver's seat of the Volvo, I noted that in the back Bella was desperately clinging to Emmett's hand in a way which looked like it would be painful if he were human.

A heavy silence hung over the car as we drove to school. To my surprise it was Bella who broke the quiet.

"So, I'll be at the same school as you guys?"

"Yes." Emmett was relieved to be talking. He never liked uncomfortable silences, always preferring to confront things head on. "The town's too small with too few pupils to have a separate junior and high school, so it's all in the same building." He winked at Bella. "So that means we'll still be able to keep an eye on you."

Bella laughed nervously at that. "Oh yeah, I forgot I'm not in the same year as any of you."

"Nah, me and Jasper look too old to pass for any younger than sixteen and Edward can barely get away with pretending to be a freshman."

"How come you have to start out pretending to be so young?" she questioned.

This time it was Jasper who answered. "Carlisle and Esme want you to be as settled as possible while you're still in school. The younger we pretend to be initially the longer we can stay in one place before people start to notice that we're not aging. We were hoping that you'd be able to finish out high school here."

"Oh." Bella considered that for a minute and, not for the first time, I wanted to know what she was thinking.

"So, we should be here for another four and a half years," Jasper continued.

My sister nodded before we all fell into silence once more. Turning the corner into the school parking lot, a flood of voices hit me and I winced.

Everyone's thoughts, as well as much of the talking I could hear, revolved around the new student who would be arriving and what she would be like. My brothers and I were already a source of gossip in this place, being both relatively new and aloof from the rest of the students. Throwing Bella into the mix was just adding fuel to the fire.

Parking, we all piled out of the car and the stares immediately hit us. Bella whimpered audibly at the attention and sidled behind Emmett's bulk out of sight, once again gripping his arm. Jasper was breathing heavily, obviously struggling to deal with the emotional turmoil that was he was being bombarded with.

We hadn't thought of this. We were used to being the centre of attention; it was natural to experience human curiosity and wariness. Bella wasn't expecting the degree of speculation she was about to be subjected to though and I felt guilty for not forewarning her.

As we made our way across the lot to the front office to get Bella's schedule I began to hear it.

'_...with the Cullens..._'

'_...wonder what she's doing with them..._'

'_...she's not really that pretty..._'

'_...maybe if we became friends then I would have a chance with Jasper, he's..._'

'_...holding hands. Maybe they're secretly together..._'

'_...be hot when she fills out a bit..._'

'_...wouldn't mind tapping that..._'

My head swivelled sharply in the direction of the last two mental voices that had infiltrated my mind and wasn't surprised to see Matt Adams and Joshua Hartfield staring lustily at Bella. The two boys and their friends were notorious troublemakers with no respect for women. Half the girls in the school were terrified of them and one, Lisa Jenson, was alleged to have committed suicide after a date with the gang's ringleader, Royce King, went badly. It was unfortunate that wealth could hide a multitude of wrongdoings. These boys, I had no doubt, would probably end up growing up to be the kind of men I used to hunt during my...rebellious phase.

So it was with a great degree of anger that I intruded upon their mental musings and I wasn't the only one annoyed. Jasper had picked up on their lust towards Bella too and was also glaring in their direction, a low growl resounding from both of us.

A meaty hand shoved into my side, pushing me into Jasper, and I turned to face Emmett who was scowling at us.

"Knock it off, you guys. We're already drawing enough attention to ourselves as it is without you growling at people."

"Sorry," I muttered, pissed off that I wasn't able to defend my little sister in this environment. If only we didn't have to act human I could...

"Edward, can you please stop the murderous impulses when I'm trying not to kill everyone here." Jasper was breathing heavily and I realised that I must have been sending a heavy amount of rage his way for the last few minutes.

"Look," Emmett broke in. "Why don't I go with Bella to the office and get her settled in class and you two can go and do...whatever."

I chanced a look at Bella and noticed that she was beginning to look rather green around the gills at all the attention. Our behaviour was only stressing her out more.

"We'll go," I agreed, before seeing that Jasper was about to protest. "Well, I'll go anyway."

Shaking my head, I ran my hands through my hair and made my way to my English class. Today was going to be interesting.

* * *

As it turned out today wasn't interesting after all...it was complete hell.

Everyone was talking about Bella. Everyone was thinking about Bella. And by extension they were then talking and thinking about my brothers and our family as well.

Everywhere I went I was confronted by Bella's image in people's minds. As close as I had become to her over the last few months, I was still the family member who spent the least time with her. As hard as I tried to fight against it, her blood still appealed to me in a way that none other's had and I was feeding almost daily in an effort to curb my thirst.

But now, everywhere I turned, Bella, Bella, Bella.

Just the picture of her face in the minds of the children, dimmed of course by their inferior vision, was enough to remind me of that sweet scent and what it would taste like if I would only just bite.

However, my longing for her blood, inspired by the thoughts of those in the school, was tempered by the other images of her that I was seeing.

Some were innocent enough: Bella hanging out with friends, Bella going shopping, Bella having a study session.

Others were not: Bella kissing David Farrow, Bella biting her lip, Bella dancing seductively, Bella doing a striptease, Bella bent over a...

Jesus Christ. I shook my head viciously, trying to physically remove that particular daydream from my mind. Unfortunately the perpetrator of that particular thought was two floors up and three classrooms along, so there wasn't much I could do about it.

But good God, she was only fourteen. What were they thinking?

I had grown used to the overactive adolescent daydreams of our peers – if they were indeed that – regarding myself and my brothers. Our inhumane attractiveness was useful when hunting for prey, but less so when it came to the attention it drew towards us. We had come to expect their lustful interest, but it had never occurred to me that Bella would also be the focus of such considerations.

By the time lunch came around my nerves were on edge and my hands felt like they were permanently clenched into fists. Grabbing a tray, I loaded it with food before stalking over to the table where Jasper was already sat and slamming it down. Throwing myself into a seat I leaned forward, my elbows on the table, my head in my hands.

"You too, huh?" Jasper's smile was wry, his voice tired.

"I knew it would be bad and I knew there would be gossip, but..."

"Not this bad," he finished for me.

"Not this bad," I repeated. "How are you holding up?"

He grinned at me. "I've already mentally dismembered over fifty percent of the male population of this school." Jasper shook his head. "What I don't understand is how they look at her, the lust, the desire, she's just a child."

"Maybe we only see it that way because she's our little sister."

Jasper glared at me. "You're telling me that if you were human, if you were still seventeen, that you'd honestly be attracted to a fourteen year old? That you'd be attracted to Bella?"

"Who's attracted to Bella?" Emmett's loud voice interrupted our stare-off and I shook my head at Jasper before turning to face him.

"Everyone apparently," Jasper answered.

"What?" Emmett was completely clueless.

"It seems that as well as the students harbouring a certain amount of curiosity towards Bella, the boys in particular are paying her a lot of interest."

"But she's my little sister." He was utterly bewildered, his mind completely unable to comprehend the idea that Bella could be viewed as a sexual being by others. "She's only fourteen."

"Yeah. That's what we said."

"But...she's only fourteen."

Emmett's mind was stuck on a memory of Bella from a few weeks ago, just before Christmas. It had been two days since the blood incident and he and Jasper had vanished back up to Alaska at Esme's request. In his absence I had taken over reading to Bella before bed and that particular night we were halfway through Wuthering Heights. Bella had never read it before, but was immediately enraptured by the tale of Cathy and Heathcliffe. I thought the novel was insipid, but our collection of fiction was surprisingly low and Bella had a penchant for the classics.

In the middle of a sentence I paused, hearing the door click quietly open and Carlisle greet my brothers. Not five seconds later a soft knock came at the bedroom door and Emmett entered with his hands behind his back. Making my excuses, I wished Bella goodnight and retired to my room, seeing perfectly in my head the moment when he presented her with her childhood toy.

Her squeals of delight had rang throughout the house and she jumped out of bed, hugging Emmett tightly. Eventually he had settled her down enough so that she lay back in bed, curled up in pyjamas with dancing snowmen on them, hugging her stuffed toy tightly.

That was the image of Bella that Emmett carried with him. That was the problem he was having with this new information.

A hush suddenly spread over the cafeteria as Bella entered the room. To my surprise she walked in alone, steadfastly ignoring the stares and whispers that greeted her. Grabbing an apple and a bottle of lemonade, she quickly walked over to us and sat down.

We watched as she picked at the skin of the apple, her eyes fixed on her task. The concern radiating from the three of us would have been funny if we weren't so worried.

"Uh, Bells, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She smiled brightly at Emmett, but it didn't reach her eyes.

I focused in on what Jasper was receiving from her: embarrassment, hurt, irritation. Emmett looked up pleadingly at us and we both shrugged.

"Bella," he tried again. "If you don't want to sit with us you don't have to. I know we said you could, but that was only if you wanted to. If you want to sit with someone else we won't be offended."

"Speak for yourself," Jasper joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Bella smiled half-heartedly before biting a chunk out of her apple. We exchanged glances over her head.

"Bella, are you alright? Was your morning ok?" This time it was Jasper trying to break Bella out of her silence.

"I'm fine, really. I just wanted to spend time with you guys. Is that a crime?" This time the grin that lit up her face was more convincing and I shook my head at Emmett who was about to coax her out of her silence again.

"Of course it's not a crime, Bella. But if you're going to sit with us you have to learn the rules."

"Rules?" she glanced up questioningly at Jasper.

He pushed his tray across the table towards her. "You have to eat something other than an apple."

Bella scrunched her face up. "I'm not really..."

"What would Esme think?"

I smiled at my sister, currently levelling Jasper with a death glare.

"Tell you what..." She leaned forward challengingly. "I'll eat something else, if you do too."

She picked a slice of pizza off of my tray and held it up to her mouth before pausing. Jasper growled under his breath at her and she giggled in response. Grabbing his own slice of pizza, he shoved the entire piece into his mouth and swallowed after the minimum amount of chewing, grimacing at the taste.

Emmett guffawed at the look of complete shock on Bella's face and I hid a smile behind my hand.

"Well?" He gestured towards her food and she begrudgingly took a bite before chewing in silence.

Although Bella seemed amused enough by our behaviour and joking around during lunch, she was uncommonly quiet and it worried both my brothers. When the bell rang she sighed heavily and gathered up her belongings. Jasper decided to accompany her to her next class as she didn't know where the room was.

Emmett and I remained behind.

"She's not telling us something."

I hummed in agreement and he turned to me, a desperate look across his face.

"What's happened? Do you and Jasper know?"

"No," I denied. "We only know that she's upset and you could see that for yourself. The children's thoughts are all over the place today with her arrival as well so it's difficult to pick anything specific up."

I clapped him on the arm as we walked down the corridors to our next classes. "Emmett, I'm sure if it's anything then she'll tell you."

"Right. Right." He took a deep, unnecessary breath before letting it slowly out. "She'll come to me if she wants to talk. Right." He wandered off down the corridor and I made my own way to algebra. I hoped that I was right in my assessment of the day and if anything was bothering Bella she would eventually talk to Emmett about it.

Maybe the stress of the day had just gotten to her. We had made a big deal out of it after all; it was natural that it wouldn't live up to expectations. Whatever the cause of Bella's sadness, I could only hope that she would have a better afternoon at school than she had that morning.

My hopes were unmet, however, when at the end of the day we were met by a sullen Bella in the parking lot. No attempts at teasing were made as I drove us all home and when we reached the house Bella pushed past the waiting Esme and ran upstairs, slamming and locking the door to her room behind her.

Esme was already half-hysterical by this turn of events and I pulled her into a hug. "Just give her a bit of time, she's had a bad day."

"We should probably all give her a bit of time," Jasper agreed, pointedly looking at Emmett who had been sidling not so subtly towards the stairs.

Squeezing Esme lightly, I let her go, wandering over to the piano and letting my fingers wander idly across the keys.

And then we heard it - a light snuffling, obviously muffled, coming from upstairs, swiftly followed by a choked sob.

Bella. In pain.


	11. The Elephant In The House

**Hi everyone. Sorry this chapter has taken so long to write. RL has been very busy for me in the last two months and will be for one more month at least as I'm now away until mid-July. Thank you all for your kind reviews and for sticking with me on this fic. I promise I will finish it eventually.**

**I'm also signed up for The Fandom Gives Back Eclipse edition and an outtake from The Cullen Girl, in a POV of the bidder's choice is up for auction, along with outtakes from my other fics, The Night Before and Another Heart Calls, and two Twi-inspired one-shots. Please think about bidding for me. It really is for a good cause.**

**With all that said, thank you to my lovely beta, msambrosia, for all her help. I don't own Twilight, but I do own this plotline so please don't steal it.**

**Please read and enjoy.**

**The Elephant in the Family**

**BPOV**

I wasn't stupid, though I knew a lot of people mistook my quietness for idiocy.

So when I got out of Edward's car at school and was greeted by stares and whispers, I wasn't arrogant enough to think it was all about me...or at least not directly all about me. Emmett had already seen fit to let me know that my brothers drew a lot of attention in school, not only because of their inhumanly beautiful appearances, but because of the distance they kept from these children as well.

I knew, therefore, that there would be some speculation about them suddenly turning up for school with a strange new sister. I just hadn't expected people to be so blatant about it.

Every eye in the lot was turned towards us, boring into my skin, and I attempted to surreptitiously hide out of sight behind Emmett. There were benefits to having a brother built like a mountain.

I clung to him as we walked towards the main office, or shuffled in my case, and as we went I could hear the louder whispers of those we passed.

"...do you think she's with him..."

"...keeping it within the family..."

"...I mean look at her, compared to the rest of them she's..."

I blushed as one girl close by questioned why the "fuck-hot Cullen brothers" would waste their time with a "plain, little mouse" like me. Emmett hugged me towards him at that point and I knew that the slight had not gone unnoticed.

Suddenly we halted, right between cars, and I craned my neck around to see why we had stopped. Edward and Jasper were frozen still, shoulders hunched, teeth slightly bared, low growls rumbling from both of them. Their gaze was fixed on a picnic table to one side of the building where a number of boys were crowded.

Emmett was now hissing at Jasper and Edward, berating them for calling more attention to us – as if that were even possible. As they talked I chanced a second glance over towards where the boys sat, curious as to what they had done to provoke my brothers' ire. One of the older ones caught me looking and winked smarmily at me. He had a cruel twist to his smirk and I shuddered in response, drawing back once more.

"Come on." Emmett tugged at me and it took me a second to realise that the others had disappeared. "They went on to class," he explained.

"They were growling," I noted, disconcerted by the action. While I had never forgotten that my new surrogate family were vampires, I had managed to push the knowledge away to the back of my mind. They all acted so human around me, never displaying any of the vampiric behaviour I had come to expect from them – growling, fighting, the constant jokes about tearing my legs off and sucking my bone marrow out. That my first foray back in human society was accompanied by this behaviour was bewildering to me.

"Yeah." Emmett grimaced and scratched the back of his neck. "I think they were catching some stuff they didn't want to hear... or feel," he tagged on. "Don't stress about it though, Bells. You know how moody the two of them can get."

I laughed in reply, but it felt forced. Edward and Jasper's weird behaviour was just putting me more on edge.

After accompanying me to the office – where the receptionist stared at me – Emmett walked me to my class and left me to face the masses alone. The whispering started up again. This time the other students weren't even trying to hide their interest; one even pointed at me.

After being shown to my seat, I hunched my shoulders over, swinging my hair around to hide my face.

A girl dropped into the seat next to me. "So, you're Isabella Cullen."

"Yes," I confirmed, blushing at her blunt statement.

"I'm Shelley." She gazed down at me imperiously. "You live with the Cullens, right?"

I shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, they adopted me about six months ago."

"Why? Ok, scrap that. Which one are you after?"

"Excuse me?" I turned face her incredulously.

She scoffed at me. "Oh c'mon, a blind woman can see how gorgeous they all are. You must be panting over one of them. Anybody would be." Shelley rolled her eyes.

I went back to hiding behind my hair. "They're my brothers."

"Yeah, well, if they were my brothers I would've jumped them already."

I could feel my face heating at her suggestive tone. I was used to Emmett throwing innuendos around the house, but it was always playful banter, mostly directed towards Edward. But this - this girl meant what she said. She really wanted to... God, I couldn't even think it.

Shelley continued to whisper at me throughout the rest of the class, which luckily was relatively easy, throwing question after question at me about the boys, Emmett in particular. Luckily, half the time the teacher interrupted her interrogation and the other half I muttered one-word answers or pretended that I didn't hear her.

Luckily, she didn't stick around after class, too upset that I hadn't been able to divulge to her what Emmett slept in.

I left class in a daze, shocked that someone could be that blunt.

...and so the rest of the day went.

Girls, even older ones who weren't in my grade, introduced themselves before launching into an interrogation about Jasper, Emmett and Edward – particularly Emmett and Edward. Jasper, despite his unnaturally beautiful appearance, still provoked more fear in these humans than the more genial other two.

_These humans_.

It was scary to realise how separated from them I really felt, how far removed from their worlds of make-up and sleepovers and crushes...how quick I was to lump myself on the side of the vampires. This human world felt alien to me, despite being the one I should occupy.

This realisation shook me.

Of course the constant attention wasn't actually for me; I was just a convenient link in the chain that led to my brothers. So I had offers of friendship, of lunch and study dates, which would either take place at my brothers' table or our house, I had spoken desires of wanting to get to know me and my family better and then I had the whispers...

Spoken behind my back by those I had just been introduced to.

"...doesn't look anything like them..."

"...stupid bitch, wouldn't tell me anything..."

"...does she think she's better than us..."

"...compared to the rest of them she's a bit plain, isn't she..."

"...what's she doing with the Cullens, she doesn't fit in at all..."

Blinking back tears, I struggled through the rest of the morning. In addition to the unwanted attention of the girls, I was also getting some strange predatory looks from some of the guys. Sidestepping an overeager boy who'd introduced himself as David Farrow, I smiled weakly before scurrying in the direction of the cafeteria.

When I entered the large room I cringed at the sudden silence which fell over the space. Sneaking a peek through my hair, I saw that everyone was looking in my direction. I hurried over towards the counter and grabbed the first things I could find, locating my brothers quickly.

When I got to their table their concern for my behaviour was sweet, but unwanted. I really didn't want more attention, I wanted less – luckily Edward seemed to realise this and I saw him discretely shake his head at the other two.

I nearly cringed when Emmett suggested sitting with someone else. I made a joke about wanting to sit with my brothers, but I was slightly ashamed to tell them that I hadn't made any friends yet. I'd never had any problems making friends with people before; I mean, I hadn't been massively popular at my old school back in Alaska, but at least I was friendly with most. But here...

Here, despite being new, I wasn't the main attraction. The Cullen boys were.

They were handsome and mysterious and intriguing and everyone was just falling over themselves to get closer to them by ingratiating themselves with me. Smiling inwardly, I congratulated myself on my proper use of the word 'ingratiate', even if it was just in my head.

A minute later I was smiling outwardly as Jasper choked down a piece of pizza, just to get me to eat properly. Emmett was guffawing loudly, while Edward had an amused look on his face.

I was touched by both their concern and their efforts to amuse me. They were trying so hard. Even when they had no clue what was wrong, although they were sharp enough to pick up that I was unsettled by something, they were making the effort to make me feel better. It was incredibly sweet of them.

My graciousness lasted until I returned to class, Jasper by my side as I struggled to locate my Biology lab.

"So, are you, like, a couple with Jasper then?"

I saw Jasper's shoulders hunch as he walked away, the comment picked up by his sensitive ears, and this time I did cringe as I turned to face the random girl, Amy something, who had addressed me. She was gazing at me curiously, her mouth snapping together with a pop as she chewed her gum.

I found my temper before I found a diplomatic answer.

"No. I'm not in a couple with Jasper. I'm also not in a relationship with Emmett or Edward either. They're my brothers. And no, you can't eat lunch with us or come over to my house and no, I won't tell you anything about my family. It's private, ok?"

I flushed heavily after my rant, already feeling the burn of embarrassment cascading up my face. Amy looked at me like I was crazy.

"Yeah, ok. I was just asking. Jeez..."

She spun on her heel and entered the class; I followed meekly behind. As the teacher directed me towards a seat I could already hear the speculation begin about my outburst.

"...such a freak. I only asked her 'cos they were walking so close to each other. And she completely blew up in my face. Loser."

I closed my eyes, praying that I could just get out of here and retreat back home. Maybe I could take Esme up on her offer of homeschooling. Surely it would be better than this.

But this wouldn't be a problem if I had normal brothers, who weren't stupidly pretty and maybe had acne or crooked teeth or something. Then I could come to school without worry of physical comparisons, hearing people sneer at how common I looked compared to vampiric beauty. Then I wouldn't have girls falling over me to get to my family. Then I could come to school, like a normal girl, and make friends who would like me for who I was, like a normal girl.

But now...

Now I could barely interact with people without feeling nervous and uncomfortable. How did I get to the stage where I was happier with the vampires than with the humans?

How dare they make me feel this way? How dare they screw up my life like this?

Hidden under the desk, my hands curled up into fists.

I seethed inwardly throughout the rest of the day, ignoring the catty remarks and scathing looks.

Finally school was over and I gathered my belongings quickly and stomped my way to the car. Emmett was already there.

"Hey there, kiddo. How was school?"

I scowled at his enthusiasm, keeping my eyes fixed on the ground. I didn't need to look at him though to tell that he would be crestfallen by my behaviour. Soft footsteps marked the arrival of Edward and Jasper and I silently slid into the car, ignoring any efforts to talk to me.

Annoyingly, I felt my anger at them fade as we drove along; I knew that they were confused, but I didn't want to open my mouth for fear of what would come out of it. I hated the situation I was in, but it wasn't their fault.

At least that was what I told myself. Inside, it was hard not to start screaming at them, but my living with a vampire family instead of a human one was an old issue that I knew couldn't be changed.

I still resented it on occasion though.

When we arrived back home I was greeted by Esme's smiling face. I didn't want to look at her. I didn't want her to ask me how my day went or if I made any friends.

I didn't want to disappoint her with the truth.

So I settled for avoidance – running up the stairs and slamming my bedroom door behind me. Yes, it was childish, but it was how I was feeling at the moment. I was sick of being mature and understanding for once. All I had wanted was a good first day at school and I now wasn't even capable of that. I was probably going to be labelled a freak from now on as well after my little outburst.

As the impact of the day hit me, I curled up in a corner between my dresser and my bed, and tried to stop the tears that began running down my face. It was no good trying to cry quietly in this house - everyone would be able to hear me anywhere - but as I tried to stop my breath from becoming too loud, a sob escaped my throat.

I immediately clamped my mouth shut and held my breath, waiting for someone, probably Esme or Emmett, to come bursting in to see what was wrong. As much as I appreciated their concern, at this moment, I just wanted to be left alone.

After a few minutes, when I had turned red from lack of air, and no-one came up, I relaxed. Obviously they had all decided to leave me alone for a while and for that I was grateful.

Eventually, once I was over my crying, I dragged myself up onto my bed and fetched my backpack from the floor. Although I was dreading tomorrow at school, perhaps more than I was dreading today, that was no reason to get behind in my work and get humiliated by my teachers, as well as by the other students.

Finishing my biology, I had just started working on an English paper when a knock came on my bedroom door. Bracing myself, I was surprised when it was Carlisle who then stuck his head around the door.

"Bella, may I come in?" He smiled sympathetically at me and I nodded.

I was surprised to see him. Beyond laying down the house rules and what was expected of me, I didn't really have that strong a bond with him. My refusal to treat Esme and Carlisle like my parents had led to a natural reserve between us, his long and erratic hours just compounded that. Mostly, if I needed guidance or someone to lay down the law, then the job fell to Jasper.

He entered my room slowly, surveying the furniture before choosing to sit in the armchair by the bed. I looked at him.

He ran his hand through his hair after a few minutes of silence and it amused me to see how similar to Edward he looked.

He began quietly. "I won't ask you if you had a good day today. I think it's evident that you didn't."

He gestured towards me and my hands shot to my face, trying to wipe away the evidence of my unhappiness.

He slowly leaned forward to grip my wrists, pulling them away from my face, before sitting back.

"Bella, I know it might be difficult to not have much privacy in this house and I know how frustrating that must be, but I want to stress to you how much we all love having you here. And if you're upset or if we've done anything to hurt you, please know that there's always someone in this household who's willing to listen to what you have to say." He hesitated. "I realise that you're closest to Emmett and, to some degree, Jasper, but I'd just like you to remember that if you don't want to talk to one of them, Esme, Edward and I are here for you as well." He smiled lightly. "And if you wish to speak to me about anything, I promise you that I won't get offended and that nothing you tell me will get back to the others."

I sniffled before grinning weakly and nodding at him. I was touched by his offer. He was right that he would never be my first confidant, but it was still reassuring to hear that he would be here for me no matter what the rest of the family did.

Carlisle tapped his knees and then stood up and headed towards the door. "I'll leave you in peace now and I expect that Esme will bring you up something to eat later."

His hand was on the handle before I spoke up.

"I didn't make any friends."

Carlisle turned to face me and nodded thoughtfully before reclaiming his position in my armchair.

It felt like once I started talking, I then couldn't stop.

"All the girls I could've been friends with only wanted to know about the 'oh so handsome Cullen brothers.'" I mimicked a high-pitched voice and was encouraged to continue by Carlisle's wry grin. "And it just felt like what's the point if no one's ever going to like me for myself, if they only want to spend time with me because they want to get closer to Emmett or Edward or Jasper. And then everyone was comparing me to them, because you're all vampires and I know that I'm never going to be as pretty as you all, but some of the things they said..."

I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes again.

"It's not the sort of thing I can talk about with Emmett or Jasper either. Or even Edward." I whispered the last part. "They're part of the problem."

My eyes were now firmly fixed upon the duvet. I couldn't bear to look up at him and see his reaction.

"Bella."

I didn't respond.

"Bella."

This time I chanced a glance upwards. Carlisle didn't look angry or upset with me, just sympathetic.

"I wish I could say something to make this situation better, but I can't, and I think you know I can't."

I grimaced and looked back down. I wished he would just lie to me to make me feel better, but I knew that I needed to hear this.

"The fact is that now you're living with us, you'll be seen by the outside world as one of us and that provokes a certain amount of... curiosity." His brow furrowed. "I want to be able to tell you that it gets easier, but people will always want to know our secrets, to get close to us, and as much as we try to interact normally with the outside world, it's not completely possible."

I fidgeted with my hands. "Why are they coming to me then? Why don't they just talk to the lot of you?"

Carlisle pressed his hands together in front of his face. "Bella, part of your ability to live with us relatively peaceably is because you don't appear to fear us as other humans do. Something about us alerts them to our inherent predatory nature and their unconscious fear keeps them away. But you're human, Bella, and that encourages them back towards us through you. If you're safe, then they assume that we must be too. I'm afraid I can't do much about that."

"It's ok," I replied. "It's not your fault." I had a lot to think about, none the least the fact that I was headed straight back into that hell hole tomorrow, but I felt marginally better now that I had an explanation.

"Would you like me to ask the boys to keep a distance from you tomorrow? It might be easier on you."

"No." I practically shouted my denial. "No, I don't want them to stay away." My voice quieted as my embarrassment at my little outburst took over. "I mean, I like having them around."

"I'm sure they like having you around too."

"I just..." I struggled to put all my conflicting feelings into order. I looked imploringly at Carlisle. "Can I just have some time to sort myself out?"

"Of course." He was immediately on his feet. "Just remember what I said earlier. We all love you, Bella."

He stood up and swiftly moved over to me, placing a quick kiss on the top of my downturned head.

"And Bella... you're just as beautiful as any of us."

He left before I could reply; I wouldn't have been able to anyway, but he was so kind. They were all so kind to me and please god, don't let me cry again.

I sat quietly by myself, mulling over Carlisle's words. There was nothing for it. I didn't want to give up my brothers in order to make new human friends. That sacrifice just wasn't worth it. So I guess I'd just have to brave it out. The attention would wane eventually - it had to - and in the meantime I'd just keep my head down and ignore any snide comments.

After about an hour Esme stopped by with my dinner. She left with a whispered assurance that I really was a beautiful girl.

My heart swelled with love for her.

My last visitor of the day knocked on the door just after I had gotten ready for bed. Emmett shuffled his feet uncomfortably in the doorway.

"Hey, Bells. I just wanted to know if you still wanted me to read to you tonight. I don't have to, if you want some privacy."

He seemed so uncertain and I now felt bad that he had obviously heard my conversation with Carlisle earlier.

"No, that would be nice, thanks. Are we starting a new book today?"

He grinned at me, pleased. "Yep, so my Bells, we now have a choice between Gone with the Wind or Little Dorrit. What'll you go for?"

"Um, Little Dorrit," I decided.

Grabbing the book, he flopped down on my bed and I rested my head on his shoulder, drifting of the sound of his voice.

**Thanks for reading. I hope this chapter was worth the wait.**

**Again, if you can, please think about bidding for a The Cullen Girl outtake for Fandom Gives Back. The money goes to fight childhood cancer, so it's a good cause.**


	12. Better

**So here you have new TCG chapters in two months. Aren't you impressed? Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing and yes, I did make a typo last chapter and call Bella, Bella Swan instead of Bella Cullen. Oops.**

**So thanks to my wonderful beta ms_ambrosia. She makes my writing look good.**

**I don't own anything but the plot of this so plase don't steal it.**

**Better**

**CPOV**

As the days went by, Bella's experiences at school appeared to get better.

She gradually lost the tension in her shoulders that she carried for the few weeks after her disastrous first day and with her gradual relaxation in her scholarly role came the easing of tension around the house.

The boys in particular relaxed around her, no longer tiptoeing around the house for fear of getting in her way or upsetting her. They were all more reserved though, no longer as easy with her as they had previously grown to be. They were still a bit wary about hindering her life outside of our home.

Esme was happy though – as the boys began to give Bella more space, her relationship with my wife blossomed. Bella appeared to have taken the talk I had with her to heart, and while I was still not as close to her as I had hoped by this stage, she was beginning to trust and confide in Esme more and for that I was grateful.

Not to sound selfish, but what made my wife happy, made me happy too, so I was glad for Bella's change of attitude.

I was still worried about the situation at school though.

Every day without fail Bella would return to the house looking a little more defeated. A quiet conversation with Jasper had revealed that although she was no longer being besieged with attention from girls who only wished to befriend her to gain access to my sons, she still also had no one her age to befriend and spend time outside of school with.

She was still sitting with the boys at lunch and would come straight home with them at the end of the day. After completing her homework she would then spend some time with my wife, preparing dinner in the kitchen and then disappear upstairs either alone or with Emmett to get up to God knows what.

So it was a big surprise when one day, about a month after Bella started school, the children burst into the house in a loud cacophony of noise. I had arrived home early after completing a long surgery and being sent away from work to get some rest.

Looking confusedly at my wife, I placed a quick kiss on her forehead before quickly getting dressed and heading downstairs. Esme in front of me, we entered the living to find Emmett practically dancing around the centre, while Bella giggled hysterically to one side and Edward and Jasper watched entertained from their seats on the sofa.

As soon as my giant of a son spotted us, he zoomed forward, scooping Esme up and swirling her around the room, one of her feet nearly knocking a vase off the mantelpiece over the fire.

Setting her down, he bounced on his toes. "Guess what? Guess what?"

We stared at him.

"Bella made a friend," he shouted happily.

"Oh," Esme gasped, running over to hug our daughter. "I'm so happy for you, darling."

"Emmett!" Bella complained, still giggling. "I wanted to tell them." She drew back from Esme. "And it's not even that big a deal anyway."

She was protesting, but the happiness radiating off her must have been astounding given the stupid grin that Jasper was currently sporting. Edward stifled a laugh at my thoughts.

"Well then?" Taking Bella's hand, Esme led her over to the loveseat and I eased myself into the armchair opposite. Emmett collapsed into an ungraceful heap on the floor in front of the fire. "What's their name?"

Bella opened her mouth to speak, but was beaten to it by Emmett again.

"Her name is Vera Johnson and she's sixteen years old, but she's in Bella's year because she was held back for two years. They share the same timetable so they're in all the same classes and today Bella didn't sit with us at lunch because..."

"Emmett," my wife interrupted firmly. "Don't you think Bella would like to tell us all this?"

He looked to Bella before turning back to Esme. "Ok, fine, I'm sorry." He crossed his arms over his chest and pouted in protest. It was completely ridiculous look for a man of his stature; I couldn't help but laugh.

"Tell you what," Jasper coolly unfolded himself from his seat and stood up. "Why don't we go for a hunt while Bella tells Esme and Carlisle about her day? I'm starving." He flashed a grin at Bella that showed slightly more teeth than I'm sure he intended, but Bella merely laughed at him.

"Yes, go hunt. Let me tell my own story." Her words were softened by her playful tone.

It was as if she had some kind of power over them as they all docilely followed her orders, Emmett ruffling her hair on his way past her. It was quite remarkable to see.

Once the boys were gone, Esme turned to Bella. "Shall we go and make dinner while we talk? I'm sure you're hungry."

As if on cue, Bella's stomach grumbled and she blushed, embarrassed, before scurrying away to the kitchen. Esme and I followed more slowly.

"Try not to embarrass her, sweetheart," I murmured in her ear.

Esme looked at me, horrified. "I wouldn't ever embarrass her, Carlisle. What a notion."

Gathering her in my arms, I hugged her tightly. "Not on purpose, you wouldn't, but I can practically feel you vibrating with excitement. Just remain calm. Bella obviously doesn't want us to think that this is a big deal and so we shouldn't treat it as such."

"But I'm so happy for her. This is what she wanted."

"I know," I soothed. "But you know how Bella doesn't like having a fuss being made over her, so it might help if we kept calm."

"Hmmmph," Esme grumbled at me. "I can be calm." She sulked off to the kitchen and I permitted myself a brief grin before following her.

Bella had already begun to chop up vegetables for her dinner and Esme was working quietly next to her, defrosting what look like a giant slab of beef. Sometimes I wondered if it wouldn't be easier for the boys to bring home their kills after they had hunted and fillet them for Bella's consumption. But then, venison wasn't that popular a dish nowadays.

I sat down on one of the barstools, curious as to why my wife was suddenly so quiet. Bella was obviously wondering the same thing, shooting Esme quick glances when she thought she wasn't looking.

I decided to break the silence. "So, Bella... Vera?"

Esme immediately shot me a triumphant look and I realised that she had been waiting for me to crack and ask first, so she couldn't be called too eager. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Yeah, she's really great. She doesn't care about, you know, the whole brother thing. She's already got a boyfriend, I think he lives a couple of towns over." Although Bella recited all this very nonchalantly, I could see a small smile playing around the corner of her lips. She was clearly very pleased about this new turn in events.

"How come she was held back as school?" My wife's curiosity got the better of her. "Did she get ill?"

"Not exactly." Bella blushed and I frowned at what could have caused that reaction. "She had a baby."

"A baby?" Esme was confused, but I understood immediately.

"Vera Johnson. She would be Henry Johnson's daughter, yes?" I inquired. "He works as a pharmacist at the hospital if I remember correctly. I believe his daughter had a child last year, a boy if I'm not mistaken."

"I guess so," Bella stuttered uncertainly. "I mean she said that she'd named her little boy after her dad, so presumably it's the same person...but she called him Harry."

I smiled at her. "Harry is a familiar name for the more formal Henry, which I suppose is a little old-fashioned for a baby."

Esme watched us speak in silence, her mouth hanging open. A quick nudge from me saw her close it with an audible click. "She's very young to have a child."

"I suppose so." Bella chewed on her lip uncomfortably. "She had a year out to have the baby and then maternity leave after to look after him until he was a bit older. But she's not some kind of irresponsible teen mom," she rushed to reassure us. "She's still with the father, he comes down at the weekends to see them both 'cos he doesn't live around here. And she's really responsible, that's why she took so much time off school, so she could look after her baby properly and..."

"Bella, Bella." Esme grabbed Bella's shoulders stopping her panicked rant in its tracks. My wife rubbed up and down her arms soothingly. "You don't have to defend this Vera to us. I'm sure if she's friends with you then she's a very lovely girl, no matter what her personal circumstances."

"Oh good." Bella took a deep breath and smiled shakily. "It's just she doesn't have a lot of other friends because of the whole baby thing and she's really nice, but I know that people will just think that she's some dumb teenage girl who just got herself knocked up."

Esme hugged Bella tightly as I sighed.

"Sometimes people speak before they think, Bella. Back in my day, it wasn't that uncommon for girls as young as twelve to be married and starting families. Now, especially seeing as it's more fashionable to wait until later in life, it's considered more shocking when you see a young girl with a baby. It doesn't mean it's wrong, it just means it's different."

Bella looked relieved after my speech and I wondered if this Vera had had occasions where she was unable to see her friends because their parents disapproved of her situation.

With one last hug, Esme released our daughter and went back to chopping the beef into slices. "So," my wife began casually, "Vera's baby is called Henry?"

Oh no, I could see where this was going and could tell that it would end with Esme getting upset.

"Yes," Bella confirmed. "And he's really cute too, she showed me a picture." She thought about it for a minute. "He's a little fat really. Vera says that he's like a mini sumo wrestler, with chubby cheeks and everything."

"All the best babies are a little fat. They're wonderful to cuddle that way." Although the words were breezily delivered, I could hear the faint waver in my wife's voice and I moved to stand behind her, enveloping her in a loose hug.

Bella stopped preparing her meal to look at Esme. She appeared to be studying her carefully, assessing her mood. Stepping forward, she looked to me and I nodded, loosening my grip on my wife. Lifting her arms, Bella gently took my place, drawing Esme towards her in a hug.

My wife clung to Bella tightly, her eyes squeezed shut to stop the tears that wouldn't fall. With one last hug, Esme stepped back, blinking rapidly and fanning a hand in front of her face.

"Oh gosh. Don't worry about me, I'm just being silly."

I slid one arm around her waist and she sagged into me.

Bella fidgeted, shifting from one foot to another and twisting her fingers. "Are you ok, Esme?"

"I'm fine, dear, just a bit overemotional at the moment."

Bella nodded, but didn't look convinced. She looked like she was about to say something else and then thought better of it, biting down hard on her lip.

"Was there something else you wished to ask, Bella?"

"Oh." She was shocked that I'd noticed. "Well, before..." She gestured towards Esme. "I was going to ask if it was alright if Vera came over after school sometime to study. But not if it's going to upset people."

"Bella, you shouldn't have to worry about me," Esme chided her. "Of course you can have your friend around. Will she want to stay for dinner as well? I can get some extra food in for you both."

Bella held her hands up in protest, laughing. "Esme, you already buy plenty of food just for me. I'm sure we'll be fine with what we've already got."

"Well, as long as you're sure."

They went back to preparing dinner, chatting happily together, and once Bella had eaten she ran upstairs to go and phone her new friend.

Esme quickly washed and wiped up, while I watched her speculatively.

"Are you alright?"

She let out a huffed laugh, but it sounded incredibly false to my ears. "Of course, I'm alright."

"Esme..."

She stopped her cleaning and turned to face me. "I'm fine...I'll be fine," she corrected.

"Come here." I opened my arms and she stepped into them.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be silly and ruin Bella's excitement."

I kissed the crown of her head. "Bella understands, and you have nothing to be sorry for."

She nodded into my chest.

"You're a good mother, Esme." I rocked her gently, wishing there was something else that could say. Wishing that I could make this better.

**EsPOV**

Bella and Vera were soon very close and it made me happy to see that she finally had a good friend her age to talk to and spend time with. Emmett, Jasper and Edward humoured her, but sometimes all three of them showed their age. She needed someone young and untainted by life to be friendly with.

The two girls were sitting together in the living room, watching a romantic comedy that Emmett had bought for Bella.

And me?

I was currently feeding one of the most beautiful creatures in the world. Little Harry stared up at me with wide, trusting eyes, suckling on his bottle, one hand tightly fisted around my hair, his face covered with mashed up fruit.

He was just the most precious thing ever and I was so grateful to Vera for allowing me to look after him, even if she didn't know how much.

The girls had arranged to get together this weekend as Vera's boyfriend, John, hadn't been able to make it down to see his son this week. That plan had been put into jeopardy when Vera's mother, Anne, a pleasant lady that I had met several times since the girls became friends, had to go out of state to look after her sick sister.

As much as I wanted Bella to have fun, it was also for selfish reasons that I saw my opportunity and volunteered to keep an eye on the baby while the girls were spending time together.

And Vera and her mother had agreed.

It wasn't any problem. Harry was a pleasant little boy, happy to totter around the house with me and play in the garden, out the way of his mother. He wasn't frightened of me either and several times he had run over to bestow upon me a hug or a sloppy kiss or a gift of a flower or pebble. It was heavenly. He was beautiful.

Unfortunately the time was now coming when I would have to hand him back to his mother. I could hear the film winding down in the next room and knew that Vera would be leaving soon.

"I suppose we should get you cleaned up for your mommy now, shouldn't we, young man?"

"Mam," he shouted, patting me on the cheek and leaving a streak of mashed banana on my skin.

"Yes, I think your mom would be horrified if she could see you right now."

Carrying him to the bathroom, I cleaned both of us up before grabbing his travel bag and walking into the lounge. The film had already finished and I could hear Bella and Vera chatting about their art class and how Mr Jackson was surely the 'most gorgeous' teacher ever. I stifled a smile as I interrupted them.

"Hello girls. Here we are, Harry, here's mommy." I passed him over to Vera, who lifted him up with a grunt, fighting the urge to snatch him back out of her arms and steal him away.

"You're getting heavy, aren't you?" She turned to me. "Thank you so much, Esme. I really needed the break. Was he alright?" She looked down at her son. "Were you a good boy for Esme? Hmm?"

I smiled at the sight. Young as she was, it could not be argued that Vera was not a good mother. It was clear to all who looked that she doted upon her son. "He was good as gold, no problems at all." I passed her the bag and she swung it over her shoulder.

Bella, sensing my melancholy at seeing Harry go, moved towards me, hugging me to her side. I smiled down at her.

Turning back to Vera, I watched her gather the last of her things. "So are we seeing you around next week, Vera?"

"Ummm, probably not."

"Vera's cousin is coming to stay with her family while her mother's sick," Bella explained.

"Yeah, my aunt Lillian's a bit of a drama queen," Vera laughed. "I think she's just one of those people who likes to complain about everything and being ill just gives her more of an excuse."

"So your cousin's going to come and stay?"

Vera nodded. "Rosalie's going to be with us until she finishes high school and goes off to college, to save her moving around too much. I'm hoping she won't mind the screaming in the night when this one decides to throw a tantrum."

"I'm sure she'll take one look at that face and be under his spell," I reassured her.

"Will she be starting school next week then?" Bella asked, back to biting on her lip.

"I don't think so." Vera frowned. "My mom will probably let her have the week off to get settled, but the week after..." She shrugged. "It should be ok though, we've always got on in the past, so hopefully living together won't be too painful."

"I'm sure you'll have a lovely time while she visits."

"Yeah." Vera checked the clock above the fire. "I should probably get going now, my dad will be expecting me. Anyway, thanks for having me over, Bella, and thanks for looking after Harry, Esme. Say goodbye to Esme, Harry, and thank you."

He barely managed a "dank, Es," but it was enough to have the venomous tears pricking at my eyes. "You're both welcome. I'll see you soon, Vera."

"Bye," she called, following Bella out to the front door, Harry waving enthusiastically from his mother's arms. I waved back as he disappeared out of sight.

Looking around, I was now at a loss. I began clearing up the mess that the girls had made while Bella said her goodbyes to Vera by the door. I heard them laugh and then Vera was gone, her car accelerating down the drive.

Bella came in and giggled when she saw that in the two minutes she'd spent saying goodbye, I'd managed to tidy the entire room.

"Thanks Esme."

"No problem," I replied, glad that I could do the little things for her, that I could be a true mother in some capacity of the word.

"No, really." She hugged me, no longer shying away from my touch. "You're the best."

I felt myself getting unexpectedly choked up and changed the subject to save face. I couldn't keep crying in front of her. "So, you'll have a new student starting at school next Monday. Maybe that will be another new friend for you, especially as you're already friends with Vera."

Bella frowned slightly. "Maybe. We'll see."

Yes. We'll see indeed.


	13. High School Beauty Queen

**So here's a chapter of the Cullen Girl at long last. I'm really sorry that it's taken me so long to get it out, but at least it's here now. To everyone who asked, yes, I'm going to complete this story, it's just taking a little bit longer than anticipated is all.**

**Thanks to katesbooksnooks for being so lovely and betaing this for me, and thanks to venis_envy and AlverdineFF for the encouragement and the WCs.**

**I own nothing, but I ask that you don't copy the plot. Thanks.**

**High School Beauty Queen**

**JPOV**

Vera's cousin was...interesting.

She hadn't made an appearance at school yet – her aunt was giving her time to settle into her new home – but she was certainly making her presence in town felt. The rumour mill about her had already begun to churn, people catching glimpses of her around with her cousin. From what was being said, she was supposed to be a great beauty, but human eyesight was so poor that I didn't put much stock in it. I had heard thousands of women over the years be described as the most beautiful and most perfect, only to be able to pick out every flaw in their features within a couple of seconds.

The Saturday before she was due to start school, I finally got the chance to judge her though.

Throughout the week, Bella had been left to her own devices during the afternoons, spending only class time and lunch with Vera. The girls had become such close friends so quickly that they had spent a huge amount of time together during the day, but now she was left alone, forced more and more into our company in the evenings. While I knew she didn't mind spending time with us – well, mostly with Emmett – I was sure that after a solid week of it that she was tired of our company.

However, at the end of classes on Friday, she told us that Vera was going to come and visit the next day, bringing her cousin with her.

Esme was happy about that, both because it made Bella happy and because it gave her another opportunity to play mother to little Harry, something she relished every time she could.

It started off well.

Carlisle was at work, Esme was bustling around the kitchen putting snacks and refreshments together – the consummate hostess – and Bella was curled up in the window seat at the front of the lounge, waiting for her friend to arrive. Uncharacteristically, Emmett, Edward and I were lurking around upstairs, pretending to be engaged in our normal time-wasting pursuits. Normally, we wouldn't care about the gossip surrounding the arrival of a new person into the community, but Bella's curiosity, coupled with our family's fondness for her cousin, meant that for once, we wanted to know more.

The sound of a car pulling up to the house alerted me to their arrival and I tossed aside the American History text I was reading. I could feel my little sister's happiness at Vera's arrival coupled with nervousness at meeting the cousin.

The door swung open and Bella and Vera greeted each other, the chatter of their excited voices, along with the cheerful babbling of Harry, floating up the stairs.

Then came the introduction. "Bella, this is my cousin, Rosalie."

So, Rosalie then. An oddly old-fashioned name for these times.

Pinpointing each girl's heartbeat, I attempted to sort out the combined emotions of the three girls.

Bella's emotions were the easiest to determine – nervousness, excitement and happiness all swirled around in a complicated miasma. Vera's were next – surety, perhaps knowing that her cousin and her friend would get along, and relief, which I found a strange emotion at this present moment in time.

Rosalie's feelings were much more complicated. A kind of self-possessed assurance was her main emotion, backed up with mild curiosity that seemed to be battling with indifference. It was confusing.

"The cousin, right?" Edward slipped into my room.

"What?"

"That frown on your face, it's because of Vera's cousin, isn't it?"

I nodded briefly. "If her thoughts are anything like her feelings, then you'd be frowning too."

My brother shrugged. "It's actually not that complicated. She's thinking about herself, that's all."

I didn't get it. "What do you mean 'that's all'?"

Edward crossed the room and slumped into the armchair in the corner. "I mean that's all she seems to think about. She's aware of how attractive people find her and in her eyes that's all that matters – that other people admire her. She admires our house, she thinks that Bella seems sweet, but it's all tied up in how that corresponds to her."

"Quite remarkable short-sightedness then," I commented.

Edward shrugged noncommittally but didn't say anything else.

Esme bustled out of the kitchen at that point and I heard her greet the girls and offer to take Harry for them, who shrieked happily at the sight of her.

That's when it hit me – jealousy, so pure and deep-seated that if I hadn't been sitting I could have been knocked off my feet by it.

Ignoring my brother, I got up and glided along the hallway, standing in the shadows at the top of the stairs, wanting to see what had caused such a strong emotion. There was nothing untoward though; nothing visible to my eyes that could instigate such powerful seething envy.

My adoptive mother was heading off towards the kitchen, bouncing Harry cheerfully on one hip as she chatted happily to him and he garbled back. Bella and Vera were quietly discussing what movie the girls were going to watch this afternoon and if they should select an action film or a comedy. I knew they would eventually select a more romantic option – they always did.

Rosalie, however, was silent; staring narrow-eyed in Esme's direction. The look of surprise and a kind of hatred was shocking to see.

Edward sidled up behind me, watching the girls as surreptitiously as I did.

"She doesn't like Esme," he commented softly.

I nodded in agreement. "Her looks?" I asked.

It was Edward's turn to nod. "She's never met anyone like her before. She's used to having all the attention because of her looks. Bella isn't considered a threat because she's young and because Rosalie can essentially assess her flaws..."

"Bella doesn't have any flaws," I interrupted.

My brother snorted. "I knew she had Emmett wrapped around her little finger, I didn't realise you were quite so whipped by her as well."

I turned and glared at him, and he raised his hands in protest. Choosing to ignore my rising ire, he continued to give a commentary on Rosalie's thoughts.

"To her, any other girl can be looked upon unfavourably, but Esme's not just another woman, and she's not human."

"She's _that_ jealous of her looks?" I was stunned that despite Edward's analysis, anyone could truly feel so strongly over such a petty issue. If this was what pretty human girls were like, then I was glad that I avoided them as much as I could.

"She doesn't understand how anyone could be so beautiful," Edward confirmed. "It makes her uneasy and insecure to not be the most attractive. She's doubting her own worth at the moment."

I took another look at this strange human, reaching out and attempting to push past the jealousy to find the carefully hidden emotions behind.

Edward was right, I realised. I didn't know what had happened to Rosalie to make her feel this way, but beyond the envy was a festering pit of uncertainty. It seemed that if Rosalie was not the most beautiful person in the room, then she didn't know what to do with herself. I wondered if it was her family who made her feel that way – it usually was family.

As the three headed into the lounge, a loud voice behind me suddenly mock-whispered, "What are we looking at?" It was only through force of will that I managed not to jump, although I gained a little satisfaction that Edward did, obviously as caught up in the girls as I had been that he hadn't noticed Emmett's approach.

"Is that her? Damn, she's got a fine ass on her."

"Emmett!" Edward hissed. "Don't shout so loudly. And don't say things like that about her, she's only eighteen."

"So?" He was unrepentant.

"So..." If my little brother could have blushed then I think he would have. "You can't say things like that about young women's... attributes." I stifled my own snort of laughter at that.

Emmett shrugged. "Stop being so damn puritan all the time, Eddie. I say it like I see it, and that girl has a fine ass." He paused then. "Should we go and introduce ourselves?"

I shook my head. "Let's just let them have time together before we starting barging around downstairs."

Emmett pouted but disappeared back to his room without argument and Edward melted away only for me to hear his piano start up a second later. Against my better judgment, I slunk downstairs, staying out of sight of the lounge. I didn't want to intrude, but I couldn't forget the pure force of this new girl's emotions. It concerned me, particularly when it was directed towards a member of my family.

Harry shrieked as I entered the kitchen, clapping at me from his position in a high chair. Esme was mixing something which smelled repulsive in a plastic bowl; my nose wrinkled in response.

"Are you boys not going to go and introduce yourselves to Vera's cousin?" she questioned serenely, gliding around, retrieving things from the various cupboards effortlessly.

"No. We figured we'd leave them to it. This is about Bella making friends, not about us butting in and disrupting things."

She hummed noncommittally and I moved to sit on one of the kitchen stools next to Harry. He shrieked again and grabbed at my hand, my index finger clenched between his tiny fists. He was such an odd little human – completely unafraid of us, although perhaps he took after his mother in that respect. Vera never appeared to feel the instinctual uneasiness that most humans did when in our presence.

Perhaps that was why she and Bella were so well matched as friends, I mused, as soft gums unceremoniously chewed on my finger.

"He's teething now," Esme noted with satisfaction. "The cold probably feels soothing to him."

As if he could understand her, Harry grinned in agreement, before going back to contentedly biting my hand. At least I could feel relieved that he wouldn't leave any more scars.

"Watch him for a minute while I go and take the girls some snacks." Esme disappeared before I could reply, a tray in her arms, and I was left looking at the child. He released my finger, completely covered in saliva, and looked up at me.

What was I supposed to do? What happened if he started to cry?

For one of the very few times in my existence I felt panic begin to rise. Esme was still in the living room, catching up on the last week with Vera and talking to Rosalie about school. I silently willed her to hurry up and rescue me; upstairs, I heard Edward snicker at my predicament.

"Es."

What?

Harry's lower lip was beginning to tremble and I could feel his impending distress.

"Es."

He waved his arms and kicked out. His eyes began to well up.

"Es, Es."

I caved. My adversary had won. "Mom!"

Esme excused herself and quickly hurried back. I could hear Bella in the distance explaining to Rosalie that it was one of her brothers calling.

"Brothers? How many do you have?" I ignored the interest in her voice and instead focused on my rescue.

"He was about to cry," I explained to the questioning look my mother gave me.

She glanced at Harry who was once again happily clapping his hands, no sign of the tears that had threatened not five seconds ago. She then looked back at me, one eyebrow raised. I glared at the little boy for his betrayal and he blew me a bubble. "Es."

"Yes, she's back. You got what you wanted," I told him mock-resentfully.

Esme laughed at my ire and went back to preparing food. "Honestly, you boys panic at every little thing when it comes to babies. He only wants me because he's hungry."

I remained in the kitchen as she began to spoon what looked like gunk into Harry's eagerly open mouth. Her contentedness at having both her family and someone to look after made her incredibly pleasant to be around. I closed my eyes to focus on that feeling. The chatter of my mother and Harry, and the girls giggling in the lounge, faded into the background, accompanied by the music drifting down from upstairs.

"Do you think that Harry's alright?" The unfamiliar voice of Vera's cousin cut into my reverie and my eyes shot open.

"Yeah, of course. Esme's really great with him and he loves coming here to visit." I appreciated the fact that Vera was standing up for my mother.

Rosalie continued to push though. "I thought you and all your brothers were adopted though, Bella. Surely looking after a teenager is a lot different from looking after a baby."

Esme continued to smile and feed Harry, but I could see the tenseness in the set of her shoulders that let me know she had heard the girl's careless words loud and clear.

"Esme knows what she's doing," Bella spoke up.

"But..."

"Rosalie, drop it!" Vera snapped. "Do you really think I'm that unfit a mother that I'd leave my baby alone with someone who couldn't look after him properly?"

"Ok, ok," Rosalie gave in. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted to check that the baby would be alright."

The girls resumed their background chatter again, but it was significantly less good natured than before.

The hand that fed Harry was now shaking imperceptibly. "Esme..."

"I'm fine, Jasper. Honestly." She smiled brightly at me but it didn't reach her suspiciously bright eyes.

Not usually a very touchy-feely person, I felt compelled to step forward and tuck her under my arm, sending out waves of comfort, offering what I could. She rested her head briefly on my shoulder before bumping me away with her hip, her smile slightly more genuine now.

"Go and get your brothers and introduce yourselves to Rosalie. Bella and Vera are quite a bit younger than her. It might be nice for her to meet some people the same age."

She was too generous. "Almost the same age," I corrected her. "She's a senior here. Emmett and I are only sophomores, like Vera, and Edward's a freshman."

"Oh hush," she chided me. "You know what I meant."

I grinned at her, and the upsurge in my mood transferred to her.

"Go and get your brothers and stop being cheeky, young man."

Shaking my head, I did as I was told. My good mood was slightly tempered by the next words I heard Rosalie say.

"I can't wait to meet your brothers, Bella. I've heard so much about them." A noticeable thread of excitement ran through her voice and I shuddered to think what she might have heard.

_Trust me, darling_, I thought as I headed up the stairs, _the feeling is definitely not mutual_.

**EPOV**

It turned out that Rosalie's jealousy didn't just extend towards Esme. Jasper confided that when she met him, Emmett and myself, that spark of envy flared back up again. I had my own concerns about her though.

When she first met us, her first thought had been that we were almost inhumanly beautiful.

Rosalie Hale was obviously more perceptive than any of us had anticipated, especially given how one directional her thoughts were in general. This wariness hadn't stopped her from flirting shamelessly with all three of us, although Jasper was relieved when she kept slightly more distance from him than she did from Emmett and I.

I could only wish that I had been so lucky.

Thankfully, after she started school the next week, she soon found other friends to hang out with, and other teenage boys to flirt with who were more receptive to her charms. Things got back to normal. Every now and then she would make an appearance at the house, trailing sullenly in after Bella and Vera and pouting whenever Harry was promptly handed over to Esme's care.

I soon learned from her thoughts that she had one other predominant obsession.

Children.

For such a modern, opinionated girl, Rosalie had surprisingly traditional aspirations. She wanted nothing more than to grow up comfortably, marry someone who adored her as she felt was appropriate and have lots of children. Unlike her newfound friends, she didn't look down upon her cousin's decision to keep her baby when she found out that she was pregnant. Instead, she felt that Vera had made the right choice, the decision that she herself would have made if she had been in the same situation.

Against her better judgement, she began to spend time with Esme when she visited, sitting in the garden with her, both of them with watchful eyes over the baby, and gradually her feelings towards my mother began to soften. She was still jealous of my mother's grace and beauty, and she despised the fact that the men of our family were more attractive than she was, but she was slowly beginning to look past all of that. In my mind, it was impossible not to like Esme.

She was also remarkably pleasant during school time towards her cousin and my sister, both of whom were still sneered at by the majority of the school's population. She would never let a bad comment be said against either of them in her presence and she was always friendly to both girls, despite the fact that she still had an air of aloofness which separated her from everyone else.

Which was why we were surprised just after Easter when she suddenly appeared at our lunch table and sat down without being invited. Normally no-one approached us. It had taken Bella a month to convince Vera that that we didn't mind her sitting with us; to have someone just march up and set their tray down was disconcerting.

What was even more disconcerting was that she immediately turned her attention to me.

"So, Edward, are you thinking of going to Prom this year?"

Her mind gave nothing away apart from her desire to know the answer, but I could already hear Jasper and Emmett sniggering under their breath next to me.

"No. I wasn't planning on it." I was abrupt in my answer, hoping that she would leave it at that, but she continued to press me.

"Are you not going because you don't have a date yet? It's not too late to find someone, you know. I'm sure there are tons of girls who would love for you to ask them. I mean, I don't have a date yet either; I'm just waiting for the right guy to ask me." Her hints were coming through loud and clear and, as if that wasn't enough, her thoughts were keeping up a running monologue.

..._just stay calm, just stay calm, he'd be lucky to have you, any guy would be lucky to have you_...

I was now left with a dilemma. With any other girl, I would have immediately brushed her aside, making some polite but blatantly insincere remark that would send them scurrying for cover away from the 'scary' Cullens. For the sake of our family though, and Vera, who I actually liked quite a bit for a human, I had to remain kind but firm.

"No, I haven't asked anyone, but thank you for believing that I would only have to ask to get a date."

Emmett now had one hand clapped over his mouth to hide the guffaws that were threatening to erupt. As it was, his shoulders were heaving so violently that if he had been human I would have worried that he was having trouble breathing. I glared at him before turning back to Rosalie.

"My family and I were planning on going camping that weekend, so, unfortunately, we shall be unable to attend."

As nice as I had tried to be, Rosalie recognised evasion when she heard it and a scowl began to form across her face, marring its prettiness. Vera, clearly sensing the beginning of trouble, tried to redirect the conversation.

"So are you all going camping that weekend then?"

Emmett finally moved his hand to speak. "Yeah, school social events aren't really our thing."

Vera then turned to Bella. "You can't go camping instead of Prom, Bella. Can't you get out of it? I really want you to come, we'll have so much fun, and I've just been dying for you to meet John."

"Ummm..." Bella blushed, sending a rush of blood to her cheeks and I felt the venom rise in throat in response. I would have to remember to hunt after school today to keep safe.

Vera immediately started trying to convince Bella that she wanted to go to the dance, while Bella began to argue that she would pose a threat to the other students in she was forced into a pair of high heels.

Rosalie, meanwhile, was cursing me in her thoughts – angry that I would turn her down when she had been nice enough to approach me. '_I_ was just a freshman after all; I should have been flattered that a senior would invite me to Prom.' Coupled with that was a burning desire to flee, to run to the nearest mirror and convince herself that she still was the most attractive girl in the school.

"Excuse me," she bit out the words, her movements purposeful as she scraped back her chair and stood up. "I have things to do."

Her abrupt exit left a silence over the table and with a glance back, Vera ran after her.

Nobody moved for a few second, except for Bella who was fidgeting with her napkin, nervously shredding it into bits.

"Well, that was awkward," Emmett broke the silence. "Nice job, Eddie."

"Don't call me that," I muttered irritably. "Besides, what was I supposed to do?"

"I think you were supposed to let her down gently," Jasper smirked.

"I did," I protested. "I was nice, I pretended not to hear her hint, and I didn't turn her down as such, I just let her know that I had no intention of attending Prom and was otherwise engaged."

"I think she would have preferred it if you had been a bit more apologetic about it," Bella commented softly. "She probably would feel better if you had been really sorry about missing it, instead of relieved that you didn't have to go."

I shook my head. As much as my mind-reading skills helped me to know what people were thinking, it was a lot more difficult to understand why they were thinking it.

"Well, I think she's got balls," Emmett declared with relish. "I like that in a woman."

"Rosalie?"

"Sure," my brother said easily. "You've gotta admire a girl who takes charge and doesn't just wait for the guy to make the first move. That takes courage, especially when you risk getting shot down like you just did to her."

I shot him a dirty look, but he just grinned at me.

"It's strange that she'd ask Edward though," Jasper mused. "I mean, I know she's terrified of me..." He seemed rather happy about that. "...but I would have thought that Emmett would be more her type."

I rolled my eyes as Emmett preened at this assessment.

"Plus he looks older, so there's less discernable difference between them."

"It's because Edward's the most beautiful."

Bella's whisper was so quiet that we nearly missed it. The three of us turned to look at her and she blushed again, ducking her head so that her hair fell in front of her face.

"Huh?" Emmett was as eloquent as ever.

She bit her lip and seemed to be quietly arguing with herself but she took a deep breath and looked up.

"It's because Edward's the most beautiful of the three of you," she spoke more clearly. "Rosalie is the most beautiful girl in this school. It makes sense that she'd want to be seen with someone equally as beautiful, even though he's technically three years younger than her."

I felt strangely embarrassed as Bella spoke. It was one thing to know that my unnaturalness made me more attractive to humans, but it was another thing entirely to hear it voiced in this manner.

"I mean, you're all good looking," she stammered, "but Edward's got you beat in the beauty stakes."

I pulled a face at being described as beautiful, but I understood what my sister was getting at.

Emmett, however, was perturbed. "What about me, Bella?" He struck a ridiculous pose. "Do you not think I'm beautiful too?"

She giggled. "Sorry, Emmett, you're just not the beauty queen type." When my brother pouted, she hastily added, "The girls in my gym class think you're really hot though."

Emmett grinned with satisfaction.

"It must be the dimples," Jasper deadpanned.

We all laughed at that. Emmett kept pushing though.

"So what do the girls in school say about Jasper then?"

Bella blushed once again and giggled nervously.

"What?" Jasper asked curiously, his interest in this conversation suddenly piqued.

Bella leaned forward and we all mirrored her. "Don't tell her that I told you this," she whispered, "but Vera and I were talking about this before, and she said that you...smouldered."

The giggling was back again as Bella retreated back behind her hair.

"He smoulders? Like they think he's really hot?" Emmett asked.

Jasper looked intrigued by this, his thoughts flying between pride, humour and annoyance.

Bella finally managed to stop laughing. "I think it's more that he seems really intense all the time, like he's deep or something."

I had to agree with her assessment of my brother; it mirrored what I had overheard about him while we were here.

"It's because I'm thinking very deeply about eating all of them," Jasper quipped.

As I wandered down the corridors after lunch, I thought about what Bella had told us. While I could understand the descriptions she had given of Emmett and Jasper as they related to their personalities, I was more disturbed that my description was related solely to my looks.

I knew I wasn't particularly friendly to anyone, but for them to judge me solely on my appearance stung slightly. I could only brush it aside though - it was unlike me to feel so affected by high school politics. Perhaps I was just feeling it more this time because it had been delivered ever so sweetly by Bella.

Shaking my head, I turned the corner and almost ran right into Rosalie and Royce King conversing quietly next to the bank of lockers.

She smiled victoriously as I walked past and raised her voice.

"...of course I'd love to go with you, Royce. It'll be so much fun..."

I carried on walking like I hadn't heard her. At least someone was now happy.


	14. Pretty In Scarlet

**Here's the next chapter for you all. Sorry to take so long getting it to you, there were technical issues. Anyway here it is, I hope you all like, especially as I struggled a lot with what I was going to include in this chapter. I hope that the fact that it's twice as long as my usual chapters makes up for that.**

**Thanks to the lovely lels for betaing this for me. As always, I own nothing except the plot.**

**Pretty in Scarlet**

**EmPOV**

The humans were getting restless lately. With both the end of the school year and Prom approaching, euphoria was running high. You could tell that all the heightened emotions were getting to Jasper because he spent half his time walking around with a look of pain on his face, and the other half completely blissed out, like he was high or something.

It was funny as hell to watch.

Edward was another one suffering from our classmates' enthusiasm. He spent most of our lunch hours slouched grumpily in his seat, one hand against his head, muttering quietly to himself.

Vera had asked quite innocently one day if he had a headache and had been greeted by mine and Jasper's laughter and Bella's wry smile. Bella eventually had to explain that it was a family in-joke and actually not that funny, something her friend accepted with a confused nod.

There had been no more repeats of the Rosalie debacle however – she was now steadfastly ignoring us – which disappointed me a little. I would have liked it if her pride had dictated that she spend more time with us, just to show she didn't care about my brother's rejection, but instead she had tried to show him up by parading around on Royce King's arm. It was a misguided gesture – Edward barely paid her more attention now than he ever had.

Something was happening around school though that concerned me.

In the rush that swept over the students as the weekend when Prom was to be held got closer and closer, the boys of the school were becoming more and more daring as they tried to man up and ask the girls out. You could barely walk down the corridors anymore without tripping over some young pimple-faced boy sweating as he asked out a girl who was way out of his league.

Still, the natural hierarchies of school were falling into place as more and more prospective Prom couples emerged.

Even though on some level, I knew it might happen, I still wasn't prepared however, when David Perry, a boy who sat two rows in front of me in Chemistry, stopped me after class one day and asked my permission to take Bella to Prom.

"Huh?" I was temporarily dumbfounded.

He shuffled his feet nervously and tried to out-stare me, but his eyes only made it as far as my chin.

"I wanted to ask if it would be alright if I asked your sister to Prom?"

Bella? Our Bella? Our little Bella? Going on a date?

"She's only fourteen," I blurted out.

David looked down at feet and then took a deep breath. "I know, but she seems really cool and I think we'd have a lot of fun if we went together. She might not even say yes, I just thought I'd like to ask her, but then I thought I better ask you first because I don't want any trouble from you or your brothers." He was babbling now, and even though he was saying all the right things, I couldn't stop myself from glowering at him.

This little punk thought that he could ask Bella out – that he was worthy of asking Bella out? She was only a baby and he was two years older than her. Who knows what he'd expect if I let her go off with him.

"...and I wouldn't try anything, honestly. I mean, I'd prefer it if you didn't come after me, if you know what I'm saying." He smiled weakly at the end of his little speech and looked up hopefully at me, like I should be happy that he had just had to convince me that he wouldn't take advantage of my baby sister.

I drew myself up to my full height, calling forth every ounce of menace I possessed, and glared down at him.

"No."

"No?" He seemed almost surprised that I had denied him my permission.

"No," I repeated sternly. "If you think for one second that..."

"Emmett!"

Great. As much as I love my sister her timing was terrible. She wasn't supposed to show up when I was threatening her potential dates.

She half-stumbled and half galloped down the corridor towards me, her long hair flying out behind her. At the last minute she tripped over her toe and it was only because I shot forward and caught her that she didn't end up face-planting on the tiled floor.

She took a couple of seconds to catch her breath. "I've left my English book at home. Do you mind going and getting it for me during your free study period?"

"When have you got the class?"

"Not until fourth period, but I'll need it before then." She grinned up at me and I smiled back.

"Sure thing, Bells." Just to annoy her, I ruffled her hair playfully and she wrinkled her nose in response, hands coming up to frantically comb through and flatten the loose strands.

"Bella?"

Fuck! I had forgotten that David the douchebag was still stood beside us, his squinty eyes shining brightly.

"I'm David... Perry. I'm in Emmett's chemistry class."

Bella looked at me quizzically before turning back to the human boy and smiling shyly. "Hi."

He smiled tremulously back and I couldn't help the quiet growl that escaped me in protest.

"Ummmm, look, I was just talking to Emmett here and Iwantedtoknowifyou'dgotopromwithme?"

My sister's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Excuse me?"

He took a deep breath before he tried again. "I wanted to know if you'd like to come with me? To Prom. If you like."

"Oh." Bella looked completely taken aback, her eyes wide in shock. She glanced quickly between me and him before blushing and looking downwards. Her teeth began abusing her bottom lip and one foot twirled unconsciously on the floor.

The longer she stayed silent, the more uncomfortable David looked – something I took great pleasure in. A bead of sweat formed on his hairline and slowly began to trickle down his face. He wiped it away quickly, but flinched away when he caught a glimpse of my vicious pleasure at his discomfort.

"Bella?" he tried again hesitantly.

"What?" Her face was bright red now and she looked like she'd rather be anywhere but here. "Oh, ummm, I've got to get to class otherwise I'll be late."

She took a step backwards, looking like she was about to flee at any moment.

David was not to be deterred though – cocky bastard – and he stepped forward to grab her arm and halt her escape. "Wait, please?"

My growl was louder that time, a clear threat, and the boy jerked his hand back, shoving it into his pocket.

My protectiveness had the wrong effect though when Bella turned the full force of her glare on me before giving David a shy smile.

"Sure, I'll go with you. It'll be fun." Her words were delivered with a false cheerfulness – Bella had never intended to go to Prom and I was sure that her sudden change of heart was more to spite me for my bad behaviour than any particular desire to go.

"Great," David's smile this time was a genuine one, but it was still slightly tempered in the face of my presence. "I'll let you get to class now, but I'll talk to you later about picking you up and stuff."

"Sure," Bella agreed easily. "I have to run now, but I'll speak to you later." She began to run awkwardly back down the quickly emptying corridor. "Emmett, don't forget my book."

"I won't," I reassured her, raising my hand in farewell.

I waited until she had turned the corner before I spun back round to her 'date'. The look of fear that had disappeared while my sister was here was back and he gulped as I poked him lightly in the chest, sending him thudding back into the wall.

"Listen to me now, and listen very closely." I lowered my voice so the few students that scurried past us wouldn't be able to hear what I was saying, but kept my tone pleasant. "I will let you go to Prom with Bella, but only because you already asked and she said yes, but there are rules you'll want to follow if you value your life."

A look of terror was beginning to dawn upon his face and I briefly wished that I had Jasper's empathic abilities so that I could ramp up the fear he was currently feeling – I wanted this boy so scared that there was no way he would deviate from what I was about to say.

"You will not touch Bella, except to offer your arm as her escort and to dance with her. When you're dancing, you will not touch anything other than her waist and her arms. If your hands go anywhere near anything else, then you'll lose them. You will be a polite and courteous date all evening – there will be no cursing or drinking in front of my sister. If she comes to any harm while she is with you, I don't care if it's not even your fault, then I will make you suffer for it."

David gulped and I allowed myself a small, hard smile at the gesture.

"Most importantly, if you try anything with Bella, or push her into anything she doesn't want, then not only will you never be able to have children, but I'll make sure you're so fucked up that you won't even be able to jerk off again. Do you understand me?"

He nodded shakily and I revelled in the smell of fear that emanated from him.

"Good." I straightened up and took a step back. "I'm glad we had this talk. You better get to class now or you'll be late."

The boy wasted no time in getting away from me, disappearing into the bowels of the school in a matter of seconds. I headed for the car and home, fetching Bella's book for her. I still wasn't happy about her accepting David's invitation to the dance, but at least I had made quite clear him where we stood if he harmed my sister.

Bella was not so happy about my threats to David though when Edward let the cat out of the bag that evening.

"You did what?"

"Don't worry, Bells, I didn't harm the guy. I just let him know that if he hurt you or pressured you to do things you didn't want to in any way, that he and I would be having words."

Edward's voice floated over from the corner of the room where he sat at his piano. "He also threatened to rip his genitals off if he didn't comply."

Bella stamped her foot to bring attention back to where she stood in front of me, hand on her hips, eyes blazing furiously. "Emmett, I can't believe you did that. What's he going to think of me now? What if you've ruined it for me?"

I held my hands up in protest. "Hey, Jasper would have done the same if he'd been there."

My brother continued to leaf through his book, not even raising his eyes. "Don't bring me into this; I've got nothing to do with it."

I scowled at him. "Oh please, don't pretend that you wouldn't have exactly the same as me if you'd had the chance."

He shrugged, but I could see the smile he was struggling to suppress.

"The only difference is, that you would've ramped up the fear the boy was feeling."

"I admit nothing."

Edward snorted, which I took to mean that I was right about Jasper. Bella huffed at us, bringing my attention back to her. She had her hands on her waist, one hip cocked, looking thoroughly disgruntled. I half expected her to stomp her foot again any minute at us.

Instead, she spun around and ran up the stairs. A second later there was a knock on the door upstairs and I heard Carlisle call out to enter.

"Oops, looks like we're in trouble."

My brothers looked equally nervous.

"Well, I'm going to out to hunt," I announced. I wasn't going to stick around for the tongue lashing I was about to get. I was quickly followed by Jasper, and then more reluctantly by Edward. As we crashed through the forest, I felt happy that for once, I had managed to avoid being chided by my parents for being too protective of Bella.

**BPOV**

My feet were tapping nervously against the floor. I couldn't stop them; if I tried then my knee would start bouncing and Esme would have to hold me still so I didn't end up with mascara halfway down my face.

My adoptive mother, on the other hand, was perfectly calm as she carefully wrapped a lock of my hair around the curler she held.

"So are you looking forward to the prom?"

I met her eyes in the reflection of the mirror. "I guess. I mean David seems nice. I've spoken to him a couple of times since he asked me out, but strangely one of the boys always seems to appear at the end of the corridor at that exact moment to scare him off."

Esme giggled and then forced herself to look stern. "Well, don't you worry about that happening tonight. Carlisle had a word with them after he asked you and under no conditions are they to come and bother the two of you at the dance, or even to head in the direction of the school."

I frowned worriedly. I really wanted this to go right. I had never been asked out before and to have one of my brothers ruin it for me would be humiliating. It was bad enough that every time I saw David, one of them, usually Emmett or Jasper, would silently appear behind him, their gazes fierce as they stalked in his direction. Speaking to Carlisle about it was embarrassing, but I didn't want people to think I was unapproachable.

I took a deep breath. "Do you promise they won't interfere tonight?"

Esme put down the curlers and leaned over, wrapping her arms around me from behind in a hug. "I promise. I'll tackle them myself if I have to, to stop them from getting near the school."

I smiled at the thought of the petite vampire tackling my six foot plus brothers. "Thank you, Esme."

"You're welcome, baby. Now, let's finish getting you gorgeous for your date."

I nearly grimaced at her reminder – _my date_. David seemed like a nice person, but I really wasn't as thrilled as I should be over going to Prom with him. Truth be told, I had only agreed to his request that I go with him because I didn't want to be a third wheel tagging along with Vera and John...well, that, and it was funny to see the look on Emmett's face.

Now though, I was regretting my impulsive move – not that I would ever admit that to any of my family. It wasn't my date, per say, but it always shocked me that he could be so polite and sweet when talking to me at school one minute, and then yelling crudely at the girls in the school with his friends at the picnic benches during lunch.

I knew that he was probably only acting that way because his friends were, I remembered how vile boys at my old school in Alaska could be, but secretly I was glad that Emmett and Jasper had threatened him. It made me feel safer around him to know that I had that protection if I needed it.

Speaking of my brothers, they were pushed and shoved out of the house by Carlisle when they heard the sound of a car engine making its way down the long driveway, although it wouldn't surprise me if they were still hidden in the trees at the edge of the woods, watching what was going on from afar.

I took one last deep breath, surveying my appearance critically in the mirror. Esme had worked wonders with my make-up and I was impressed by how grown up I looked. My dress, which had been ordered in from some French designer, was gorgeous – a one-shouldered, emerald green number that came down to my knees. In a concession to my clumsiness, Esme had found a pair of silver sandals with a low platformed heel. I looked utterly plain in the expensive clothes, wishing I could crawl back into my jeans and t-shirts. I wouldn't look as glamorous, but I would definitely be more comfortable.

Esme wrapped her arms around my shoulder from behind and rested her chin against my shoulder, so our faces were side-by-side in the mirror. "You look beautiful, Bella."

I couldn't meet her eyes and so chose to stare at my feet, my cheeks heating up.

Esme sighed and then hugged me lightly, pressing a quick kiss against my cheek before releasing me. "Believe me when I say you do, even though I know you won't believe me." She squeezed my shoulders and then stepped back just as there was a knock on the door.

I heard footsteps across the hall as Carlisle went to answer the door and hurried to grab my bag.

"Here." Esme appeared at the doorway and I jumped as I realised she must have left the room and returned too fast for me to notice. "Smile for the camera." She held it up and I posed obligingly for several pictures, blinking against the glare of the flash once she was done. Gesturing for me to go ahead of her, I carefully walked down the stairs, clinging to the railing tightly so that I didn't end up flat on my face.

I could hear the clicking of the camera behind me as Esme took an impossible number of shots. If I ever went to a school dance again, I would have to ask her not to get too overexcited about it...but then, I was the only member of her family going to a school dance and this _was_ the first time I had been on a date since Edward had found me.

My melancholy mood lifted slightly when I got downstairs to find that David and Carlisle were talking quite comfortably, with no hint of the intimidation that my brothers used on the boy before me. He turned and smiled easily at me and I could already feel the stirrings of hope that this would be a really fun night after all and I would be just another girl going to a dance, and not the weird freak at school, who lives with vampires.

"Hi Bella." He ducked his head bashfully and I smiled at the nervous action. "You look really nice."

"Thanks." I blushed in response and tried to ignore the wry smile that Carlisle and Esme shot each other over my head.

"Here." He held out a white corsage and awkwardly managed to slide it onto my wrist. I didn't need vampire hearing to hear Esme's whispered, "so sweet."

Turning to face her and Carlisle, I decided that I quick exit was necessary to spare both of us the excited gushing.

"We should probably head out now."

Carlisle nodded and placed his hands on his wife's shoulders, restraining her, no doubt, from running around in uncontrolled excitement.

"Wait," she called out. "Can I at least get one picture of the two of you?"

"Of course," David replied, before I could get a word in edgeways. "Where would you like us to stand?"

My adoptive mother beamed at him. "Just in front of the fireplace please. Oh, and Bella wrap your arm around his waist. Exactly. Just like that."

We posed awkwardly while she took about a hundred pictures and when she was done, I quickly broke away from David, smiling apologetically at him.

As we said our goodbyes, Carlisle pulled me into a hug. "You look very beautiful tonight, Bella." I blushed at the compliment and knew that he would be able to feel the heat of my cheeks where I was pressed into his shoulder. Ducking down slightly, he lowered his voice. "I've put a can of pepper spray in your bag, just in case. Don't be afraid to use it if you have to."

I laughed at that, it was the type of thing my father had used to do before I went out with my friends. Before I could let the sadness at my parents missing my first dance take over, Carlisle spoke again.

"I'm sure they're very proud of you right now, Bella."

I sniffed and nodded, plastering the smile back on my face. Now was not the time to be having a crying fit...especially not in front of David.

"You're both going out tonight, right?" I checked.

"Yes," Esme confirmed. "We should be back after midnight, so you've got your key to get back in the house, yes?"

I nodded and shot a questioning look towards David. "I should be home before that."

He immediately leapt in to reassure Carlisle and Esme. "I'll make sure Bella gets back at a reasonable time."

"You make sure she does," Carlisle added mildly. I don't know if I was being paranoid, but that almost sounded like a threat.

"Right, let's go." By this point, I just wanted to get David out of the house and away from my overprotective family as quickly as possible. Grabbing his arm, I practically shoved him through the front door and over towards his car. "See you later."

Both my parents stood on the porch and waved as the car headed back down towards the school. I let out a deep sigh of relief once we were out of sight.

"Glad to be away from the parents, huh?"

I turned to my date and laughed at his accurate analysis. "I'm really sorry about that. They can be a little overbearing sometimes."

David glanced at me before returning his eyes to the road. "No worries. It just means they're looking out for you. Besides," a smile curved the corner of his mouth, "you're lucky you didn't get caught at my house before leaving tonight. My mom asked me a million times if I remembered everything and then starting going on about how grown up I looked. I seriously thought she was going to cry at one point."

"Yeah, Esme too," I smiled.

Maybe tonight wasn't going to be so bad after all. David seemed really nice and although he had obviously seen that I was nervous and uncomfortable, he was making the effort to put me at ease. I guess that meant that I would give him the benefit of the doubt – he seemed really nice and funny. I was sure that I would have a better time than expected.

Well...better if Emmett would just leave us alone. As I gazed out the window into the pitch black forest on the side of the road, I caught sight of my brother weaving through the trees, running alongside the car, flashes of white skin catching the light and alerting me to his presence.

I knew he wouldn't be able to leave me alone like he had promised.

"Go away," I quietly hissed. "You're not supposed to be here."

For a moment I thought he hadn't heard me, even with his improved senses, but the white blur gradually slowed and then vanished back into the dark, so I presumed he had listened to me.

Either that, or one of the others had made him stop following me.

David and I made small talk for the rest of the trip towards the school and I learnt a little bit more about him – his hobbies, his interests and his friends. I was surprised to hear that he was a member of the science club as well as being a reserve on the football team, something he was proud to brag about. I was slightly less impressed however, by the list of friends' names he reeled off. I didn't really know any of the friends he was talking about personally, but some of them were people I was familiar with thanks to the abuse they yelled at Vera as we walked down the school hallways. I figured as long as I didn't have to spend much time with any of them this evening, then I would enjoy the dance.

My plans of David and I spending time together at the dance disappeared as soon as we walked through the doors of the school gymnasium. He immediately made some excuse about going to find his friends and headed off in the direction of the punch bowl. The gang of boys surrounding it burst out laughing and I made a note not to drink any tonight for fear of it being spiked. In the middle of them all, looking incredibly bored, were Rosalie and several of her friends.

They were all heavily made up and wearing daring dresses that flashed their legs and showed off their chests. My arms automatically reached up to cross over my own flat cleavage, and I looked around self-consciously as people continued to wander into the dance, happily chatting to each other.

Rosalie's outfit, by comparison, was surprisingly modest. The red dress was held up by thin straps and the skirt was cut mid-calf length on the diagonal. Next to the other girls with their trashy display of flesh, she looked incredibly elegant.

I silently wished that Vera would arrive soon so I would have someone to hang out with seeing as David obviously had other people to talk to. In the meantime, however, I was left to walk around the gym by myself. I stuck close to the walls and pretended to admire the gaudy decorations draped across the wall and tables. It looked like an explosion of glitter and balloons had happened.

"Bella!"

I spun to see who had yelled for me and saw Vera waving happily at me, tugging on the arm of a gangly boy. Surprisingly, Rosalie had joined them and was glaring in my direction.

Shrugging off her behaviour, I headed over and gave Vera a hug. "You look great."

She spun around to show me the draped back of the light blue dress she wore and beamed. "Thanks. Rosalie helped me pick it out."

I nodded at the blonde, unsure of whether I should smile at her or not. "Rosalie did a great job then."

Rosalie inclined her head in response and then spoke. "I don't believe you've met John, have you, Bella?"

"Oh gosh!" Vera clapped her hand over her mouth. "I can't believe I forgot that you two don't know each other."

John offered me a grin and a nod. "I'm fairly sure I would've known who you were just from Vera's endless talking about what you two have got up to, even if she hadn't screamed your name across the hall.

I giggled. "Yeah, same here. It's nice to finally meet you."

"So," Rosalie interrupted, "I see your brothers aren't here tonight."

My hesitant smile turned into a frown. "No. They've gone camping for the weekend. Only my parents are still in town and they've gone out to dinner for the evening."

She arched a brow at me and then spun on her heel, stalking back towards her date. I glanced over to where David seemed completely oblivious to my existence. Forcing a smile back onto my face, I chatted away with Vera and John, drinking thankfully-un-spiked punch, eating the buffet and jumping around stupidly to the music they played. Never once did Vera and John make me feel like a third wheel, and I found that the two of them together were absolutely hilarious. You could tell just how well suited to each other they were.

Eventually David came back over and apologised for not spending more time with me. By that point though, I was having such a good time that I forgave him. We danced for a while – well, David danced and I sort of clung to his shoulders and just swayed – before the DJ announced the last dance.

"Do you want to stay for the last song or do you want to get out of here?"

I looked across at Vera and John who were pressed close together, their arms around each other, turning in slow circles to the music. Both of them had closed their eyes and both had a small contented smile on their face. I wanted that with someone someday – to have them hold me gently and dance as if there was no-one else in the world.

It wasn't going to happen with David though. He was nice enough, but I was still smarting from being abandoned pretty much the second we had got here, so I declined the offer to stay.

"No, I should get home. My feet are beginning to hurt in these shoes now," I tried to joke. "Let me just go and tell Vera that I'm leaving."

After parting from my friend, and promising to see her and John some other time this week, I limped my way outside the gym. I hadn't been lying with what I had told David – my feet really did hurt, unused to the heel on the unfamiliar shoes. My date was waiting for me as we left and I hooked my hand through his proffered arm.

I heard shouting from across the parking lot, and turned to find one of David's friends, Royce, I think his name was, beckoning him over.

"Can you just hold on a minute, Bella?" he asked, not waiting for a reply before jogging across the lot.

That was it!

I was now seriously pissed off. This was the second time this evening that I had effectively been abandoned by this boy. Obviously he didn't know the meaning of the word 'date.'

Well, I wasn't going to hang around waiting for him for finish with his friends. Spinning around, I stomped back into the gym and searched for Vera. I hated to interrupt her and John, especially considering that this night was supposed to be a break from parenthood for both of them, but I really hoped they wouldn't mind giving me a ride home.

After several sweeps of the gym though, I was left disappointed. What was even more annoying was that by the time I made it back outside, David and his car had disappeared too. Gritting my teeth, I realised that I would have to walk home. The parking lot was practically empty by now and the few students who did linger were not anyone I felt comfortable asking for help. I briefly considered going back into the school and calling for someone to come and get me, but everyone I knew was out tonight, and I knew that generally the family didn't carry their cellphones out while hunting – I had never lived down Jasper's story of how he was just about to pounce on a herd of deer when I phoned him and the ringing cell had frightened the animals away.

I felt the sting of tears in my eyes as I realised that there was no way to get home without walking. Sniffling pathetically, I began the long journey, sticking close to the main road mainly because I didn't want to get lost, but also because I knew what lurked in the woods that rose up around me, and the closer I was to the trappings of civilisation, the safer I would be.

I couldn't believe that this was how the evening was ending. Just a few hours ago, I had been stood in the hall with Carlisle and Esme, and thinking that maybe this dance wouldn't be so bad after all – maybe David and I really would have fun.

Well, I had had fun, but only because Vera and John had been there. If they hadn't been, then I would've spent the entire time alone and miserable, and all because the boy who called himself my 'date' didn't know the meaning of polite behaviour. To just be left alone like that, both at the dance and after in the parking lot was...

I sobbed as the emotions of the night finally began to hit me. I had forgotten to bring a sweater with me and the cold was beginning to prickle along my bare skin. The wind was whipping my hair around, tossing the carefully styled strands around my face, and my feet were killing me.

Stopping in the middle of the road, I attempted to pull myself together. I brushed the tears off my cheeks, my anger beginning to overwhelm my hurt at the events of the evening. How dare that _stupid_ boy ruin my evening? You could bet that as soon as I got back home I was telling Emmett and Jasper what had happened. It would serve the snivelling weasel right if he got terrified out of his wits by my brothers.

With that decided, I jerked off the painful shoes and carried on walking. I was still cold and the gravel on the road bit into the soles of my feet, but my anger had given me the energy to get the rest of the way home.

I stumbled several times as I stomped along and twice I tripped. The first time, I only scraped my hands and knees where I caught myself, but the second time, I couldn't get my arms up in time to block my fall and ended up cutting the side of my face. I steadfastly ignored the blood that ran from the cut down my jaw and dripped onto my neck. I knew if I tried to wipe it off, I would just end smearing it across my hand and face and the sight and smell tended to make me queasy.

It was with relief then that I finally came across the entrance to the driveway. My pace picked up as the thought of being safe and warm in bed spurred me on.

A low growl echoed out of the trees to my left and I froze, my heart beginning to race. The darkness here was all-encompassing; there were no streetlights like on the main road and the woods seemed to loom up over me. Stumbling forward, I began to run as the rumbling growl grew louder.

Suddenly a blur flashed across the corner of my eye and I jerked to a halt as Edward appeared on the drive in front of me.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I lowered the hand which had been pressed against my heart.

"Jesus, Edward, you really scared me."

He didn't answer though, he just continued to growl. I couldn't tell from the lack of light whether he had fed or not, but his lips were curled back over his teeth.

"Edward?"

He began to stalk forward and I found myself panicking. This was exactly how it had been before with... the others. They had loved to frighten me, make me believe that I was a goner – only this time I didn't think it was a game.

I wanted to move, to run, to try and get away, no matter how impossible I knew it would be, but my feet were frozen in place. All I could do was watch, wide-eyed, as he drew closer.

"Edward," I pleaded. "Please, it's Bella. Please Edward."

He stopped, so close we were practically toe to toe, and bent his head. His hand came up to cup my cheek, fingers sliding into my hair and tugging my head lightly to the side, exposing my neck.

I began to shake, but the shock of what was happening held me in place.

Edward inhaled deeply and then growled, and I remembered that that side of my face was where I had cut myself. He was so close now that I could feel the rumble of his chest pressed close to mine.

I began to pray, to God, to my parents, to whoever would listen that this wouldn't happen to me. Not after Alaska...

A wet sensation against my neck made me jump and Edward's grip on my hair tightened. It came again and it took me a second to work out that he was licking me. No, not me. He was licking up the blood, his tongue rasping against my skin. Once he was done with my neck, he paused and raised his head to look at me.

I desperately tried to find some semblance of the brother who had taken care of me, the brother who had read to me at night and got Emmett off my case when he tried to force me into one of his practical jokes.

He wasn't there.

I tried one last time. "Edward?"

He lowered his mouth towards my cheek and I closed my eyes, waiting for the sting of venom against the open wound.

It never came.

A gust of air blew past my face, as if something had just sped past me, and when I opened my eyes it was to find Edward lying on his back forty foot from where he had been. There was another blur in front of me as Carlisle suddenly emerged from the forest, placing himself between me and my brother.

"Go and hunt, Edward!"

I had never heard him sound so angry and feral. He practically snarled the words at Edward.

My brother hissed at him and then disappeared into the trees. Only when he was gone did Carlisle relax out of his crouched position and turn towards me.

"Bella, are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

"I... I..." I couldn't get the words out.

Carlisle seemed to understand. "Never mind, let's get you back to the house and cleaned up before we worry about what's happened. God, you must be freezing. What happened tonight?"

He stepped forward and swept me up, running towards the house.

"I had to walk home," I finally managed to get out.

"Yes," his tone was grim, "I gathered that."

He beckoned me into the house ahead of him and I stepped into the warmth gratefully.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

I had barely taken two steps towards the kitchen when a piercing scream rang out in the air. I was followed by another louder shriek and Carlisle peered out into the woods, a look of worry on his face.

The whole forest surrounding the house appeared to have grown silent, with only the wind whistling around the garden. Everything seemed calm and peaceful out there – you would never know what could happen under the cover of darkness.

Carlisle kept glancing between me and the door, clearly wanting to find out what was going on.

"Go. I can clean myself up."

"It won't take me long," he protested.

A second loud scream rent through the air again and this time when I yelled "Go!" Carlisle listened to me.

The house felt incredibly empty now that he was gone and the shock of the evening began to take hold of my body once more. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of my reflection in the hall mirror.

I looked exactly like I felt – terrible.

My face was splattered with dirt and blood, my neck suspiciously clean where Edward had licked me. I whimpered at the thought that another vampire had been so close to my neck, so close to drinking my blood.

With a cry I rushed up the stairs, flying into my bedroom and locking the door behind me. I placed a chair under the handle as well. I knew it wouldn't stop any of the family who wanted to come into my room, but at this moment I needed the feeling of safety it gave me.

I stripped off the dirty clothes and threw them into the hamper in the bathroom. Turning the shower on, I stepped in and grabbed the loofer on the side. I scrubbed until all the blood and grit was gone, and then I tried to scrub the remnants of this evening off, my skin turning pink as I abused it.

I scrubbed off being abandoned by my date, I scrubbed off Rosalie's sneer at the dance, I scrubbed off the long and painful walk home, I scrubbed off the encounter with Edward, this new strange Edward I didn't recognise, and I scrubbed off the terror I had heard in those screams, the knowledge that something terrible had happened and that I was too afraid to do anything about it.

And I knew something terrible had happened. People didn't scream like that unless something really dreadful had occurred.

Eventually, it was all too much and I collapsed into a heap in the floor of the shower, burying my face in my knees and wrapping my arms tightly around my legs.

And for the second time that evening I prayed...

And I cried.


	15. For All The Pain I Have Seen

**Here's the next chapter for you all. I hope you didn't have to wait so long this time for me to update. As always, I own nothing, and I'd like to say thank you to lels for the beta on this chapter.**

**Just a quick warning for this chapter that it may contain possible sensitive triggers, so take care while reading.**

**Thanks for reading, I hope you all like it.**

**For All the Pain I Have Seen**

**EsPOV**

There was something so liberating about hunting. Being able to dart about the forest, out of the sight of humans, with no need for caution, was exhilarating. More so, was sharing the experience with my husband.

I held tightly onto Carlisle's hand as we sprinted south. Both of us had fancied some bigger game tonight, but that meant we had to venture further from home, from Bella, to get it.

Even though she was safe enough in our house and old enough to look after herself, I still worried. Whenever I was away from home and thought about her, I didn't see the increasingly confident and beautiful young woman she was becoming in my mind's eye, but the frightened, skinny little girl who had arrived on our doorstep broken and bleeding nearly a year ago.

It didn't even matter to me that she wasn't at home tonight, instead attending the school prom with that young man who would never be good enough for her in any of our eyes, I still continued to worry. So when I had pleaded with Carlisle to return home earlier than we'd planned, he had readily agreed, knowing that being back in the vicinity of the house would ease my worries.

I had cried a little to myself after she had left for her dance, sad that my poor baby girl was growing up so fast and heartbroken that although we loved her as best we could, and she loved us in return, we would always just be substitutes for her parents who were missing it all.

Carlisle tugged on my hand lightly, bringing me to a halt and spinning me into his arms where he held me tightly and kissed the crown of my head.

"I'm sure she's having a wonderful time."

I couldn't stop my fears. "But what if she has a horrible date? What if someone spikes the punch and she gets drunk and hurts herself? What if she falls down the steps in front of the school? She does have heels on tonight and I know she wasn't that comfortable wearing them. What if...?"

"Esme," my husband interrupted my flow of anxious words. "She's fine. Her friends will be there if she doesn't get on with David, she knows to be cautious in case her drink gets spiked and if she hurts herself then the hospital will call me."

I wasn't comforted. "But what if she...?"

"Esme!" This time his voice was firmer and I quietened down. "You can't predict the future and we can't protect Bella from everything, otherwise she'll never have the chance to grow up and learn. All we can do is be there for her if she ever does get into trouble and let her know that we still love her and we still care."

I knew that what he was saying made sense, but a shiver of alarm was beginning to wind its way up my spine and I couldn't shake the feeling of dread that was coming over me. My eyes darted around, taking in the quiet forest that surrounded us. There was a wild rabbit over to my left, frozen in the bushes, trying not to draw attention to itself when there were predators near. Its frightened heartbeat was pounding so quickly that it sounded like it might burst out of its chest at any moment. We left it alone though; the poor thing wasn't big enough for a meal and to kill it just for sport would have been cruel.

"Esme." Carlisle's voice once again shocked me out of my musings. "I'll tell you what, let's go and hunt closer to home, hopefully the boys will have left some deer alive around the area, and we'll be able to hear Bella when she comes back. Will that ease your mind a little?"

I smiled up at him gratefully, throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him soundly on the mouth. My love for this kind, considerate man overwhelmed me and I tried to convey the depths of my feelings for him with my kisses. I didn't know what I ever done to deserve Carlisle's love and understanding, but I was endlessly grateful that I had it.

"Yes, thank you."

He grinned at me. "I think next time we go hunting I'll leave one of the boys to babysit so I can take you farther away."

"Carlisle," I gasped, smacking his chest in mock outrage, but I couldn't help the answering smile that spread across my face.

He grasped the hand I had hit him with and raised it to his lips, pressing a soft kiss against my fingers before lowering it again, his fingers locked in mine.

"Shall we?" He gestured in the direction of our house and tugged me slightly, so that we started running again.

As soon as we hit the boundaries of the forest surrounding the house, I felt the tension between my shoulders ease slightly. I already felt better just knowing that we were close to home in case of an accident.

Letting Carlisle lead the way, we began our hunt, scowling when we passed the partially crushed body of a stag.

"Emmett really needs to learn to be cleaner when he hunts," I muttered. "If not with the kill then with disposing of the evidence afterwards."

Carlisle grunted in acknowledgement of my words, but his nose was turned in the opposite direction, already searching out any available prey.

Following his example, I inhaled deeply and caught the scent of a herd of elk in the west. My feet immediately began to sprint in that direction, my senses completely honed in on the target. Carlisle ran by my side, his arm brushing against mine as we moved quickly and silently through the woods. The herd was on the move, sensing the danger swiftly approaching, and we sped up in response.

Our trail led us past the still empty house and we cut across the backyard in order to cut the escaping elk off. We plunged back into the woods, ducking under low hanging branches and jumping over exposed roots. The elk were in sight now and speeding up, I took a running leap into the centre of the herd, bringing down two animals as I did. Breaking one's neck, I sank my teeth into the other's neck, exalting as hot blood pumped its way into my mouth and down my throat. Behind me, I could hear Carlisle feeding and the sound spurred me on to finish off my second kill.

When I was finished, I rolled onto my back panting even though the hunt had cost me little exertion. My husband's feet came into view before he collapsed next to me, stroking his fingers up and down my bare arm.

The run had disturbed his usual unruffled appearance. Leaves and twigs littered his messy hair and there were smudges of dirt over his clothing where we had crashed through the forest with little regard for anything standing in our way. He looked magnificent and I smiled up at him.

His gaze became more heated as it ran over my body and he bent over as if to kiss me...

A loud growl shattered the peaceful aftermath of our hunt, and the air seemed to ripple as one of our sons sped past our resting place. I sat up and sniffed the air tentatively, locating Edward's scent which drifted with the wind about a mile away. The growl came again and I glanced worriedly at Carlisle.

We both stood up, brushing the leaves and dirt off our clothes, and quickly headed in the direction that our son had gone. We had only taken a few steps before Carlisle laid a restraining hand on my arm.

"We forgot to clear up," he murmured, his eyes flitting back to the carcasses we had left where they lay.

I knew what he was concerned about; if we weren't careful then people would assume that there were larger carnivores in the woods preying on the deer and more humans would venture into the forest, disturbing our peace and brandishing weapons at anything that moved.

"I'll clear up," I offered.

Carlisle's brow creased as he considered our options.

"Go and find Edward," I pushed. "And I'll sort out everything here."

He nodded seriously and pressed a hard kiss against my mouth before running off in the direction that Edward had gone. My hand unconsciously came up to touch my lips as I turned back towards the remains of our meals.

Working quickly, I disposed of the elk, knowing that any scavengers would do the rest of the job for me. I couldn't hear either Carlisle or Edward anymore, so I supposed that whatever must have happened had been sorted out now. As I strolled back to the house, along the edge of the forest, I idly wondered if Bella would be home yet, or if she had decided to stay out late with her friends. The uneasy feeling that had been bothering me all through the evening grew stronger and I wrapped my arms around myself, not liking the heavy weight of anticipation that seemed to create a quiet vacuum around me.

A faint hint of something in the air called to me as I got closer to the road and I crept nearer, trying to work out what had disturbed me. The light from a car flashed through the trees and I jumped back out of sight, even though I was sure that I was deep enough in the woods to avoid being seen by human eyes.

The screeching of the car's brakes being applied forcefully made me sink into a crouch, creeping closer to the gravel to try and see what was going on.

The car didn't sound anything like the one that Bella's date had picked her up in earlier, but I struggled to understand what anyone would be doing driving along this road in the first place. It was usually deserted apart from the occasional logging truck roaring by, one of the reasons why it was such a suitable place for us to live.

The slamming of doors alerted me that the passengers of the vehicle were getting out and I slunk closer, my curiosity peaked, as I hid in the shadows.

A gang of men, no, boys, were huddled around the trunk of the car in the distance and I frowned as the sight of the vehicle sparked something in my memory. I could've sworn that I'd seen it before somewhere. They were downwind from me though, so I couldn't identify them so easily by scent; my nose was not as good as tracking as Jasper's or Edward's.

A faint coppery lilt was beginning to hit my senses though, although none of the boys appeared to be bleeding and I swallowed hard against the venom rising in my throat.

My confusion was cleared up a second later though, when they reached into the trunk and hauled out a bloody bundle, tossing it on the verge, before they all jumped in the car, yelling at each other to hurry, and then spun the car around, shooting past me as fast as they could, back towards town.

I couldn't think about them for long though. The burning in my throat, despite my feeding earlier, was making itself felt strongly and I took small steps towards the bundle. It moved then, a small whimper of pain being torn from it, and that was when the realisation hit me.

Human blood.

This was why I was struggling to think, to concentrate on what had just happened. This was why I was still steadily creeping towards whoever was lying there even as my brain screamed at me to run away and fetch Carlisle.

The person whimper again and I shuffled towards them in a sideways crouch, not wanting to get too close, but unable to help myself.

The scent of the person was somewhat familiar, and I struggled to get past the bloodlust to work out why. A glimmer of blonde streaked with blood red caught my eye and suddenly the pieces clicked into place.

My body jerked up and with an increasing sense of foreboding, I crossed the remaining two steps to the person.

She was barely recognisable, laying a pool of her own blood, her dress ripped to shreds and her beautiful face smashed to pieces. She struggled to breathe through her nose and when she coughed, blood left her lungs.

I sank to my knees besides her, wanting to touch her, to comfort her, but unsure where to touch so it wouldn't hurt.

"Oh, Rosalie, my darling."

She shifted minutely and the perfume of her blood grew stronger, forcing me to clench my jaw shut and stop breathing, struggling against the urge to bite.

Her blood continued to gush out of her body and I tentatively shifted the fabric of her red dress, trying to work out where she was bleeding. My many conversations with Carlisle about his medical career ran through my head as my mind began to catalogue her injuries.

From the sight of the blood in her mouth, I would guess that one of her ribs had punctured a lung. Her chest was almost concave in shape and I shook at the thought of the strength of a beating that would produce such a result. Her exposed breasts were covered in cuts and bite marks from human teeth and I cringed when I next inhaled, knowing what I was looking for but not wanting to find it.

God had not been kind to this girl.

The stench of at least seven men reached me and for a second, I was flung back to the memory of my last beating and the abuse my husband had inflicted upon me before I had run.

Rosalie had run too, if her broken ankle was anything to go by, the bone sticking out at an odd angle and the heel of her shoe snapped into a million pieces.

It was on her leg, near the femoral artery, where most of the bleeding was coming from and I immediately began to put pressure on the cut there, knowing that if they had nicked the major blood vessel, she wouldn't have much time left.

"It's alright, Rosalie. It's ok. I won't leave you; it's going to be ok."

My heart felt the futileness of the words even as I said them.

I couldn't save this girl and there wasn't enough time to take her to someone that could. The only thing that I could offer her now was some small measure of comfort. Unshed tears stung my eyes at the hopelessness of it all.

She coughed again, more blood bubbling around her lips, and I struggled not to just see her as another source of prey. Unwilling to risk opening my mouth again, I began to hum quietly, and then louder. Trying to comfort her. Trying not to be so hungry.

I could hear a crashing sound in the far off distance; someone else had smelt the blood too and was now coming. They would be too late though. Her life was streaming out of her body, staining my hands as I tried to prolong it just a bit longer. I pressed harder on the wound over her leg.

"M...K..."

My eyes shot up to Rosalie's face, only to find her watching me with an unfocused stare.

She coughed again, softer this time, as if her body could no longer make the effort to expel the fluid from her lungs.

"Ms...K..." she tried again and I hushed her.

"I'm so sorry, Rosalie. I'm so sorry. Everything will be alright."

She tried to shake her head, but then winced at the movement.

"Don't move, you'll hurt yourself. You need to save your energy for getting well again, alright?" Even I could hear the desperation and panic in my voice.

She moved abruptly, a jerky movement that took me by surprise as she grasped one of my hands tightly.

"He...help me."

I stared at her, my eyes wide, my mind blank for once.

She coughed weakly again. "Hel...m-me..."

Her eyes fluttered shut once more and her raspy breathing grew quieter. Her heart was beginning to slow, each beat further apart from the last, and the pulse of blood leaving her body began to ebb.

She was dying in front of my eyes and all I could do was sit here and try to comfort her in her last moments.

Such a beautiful girl. Such a young girl.

_Such a waste_.

I tried to picture Rosalie as I'd seen her before, a healthy young woman, smiling as she bounced her cousin's baby on her hip, laughing as he patted her face with one tiny hand, uncaring that he was smearing her face with food.

A far cry from the broken creature that lay before me.

The thought echoed in my head again: _such a waste of a good life_.

I didn't even think, couldn't even think, as my head lowered towards her bloody body. I guided my nose up her neck...

...and then bit down hard, trying not to swallow the blood that rushed from the new injury.

The shock at my actions made me drop her hand, scuttling backwards on my bottom as I tried to work out what I'd just done.

Her heart was beating just a fraction faster now and I stared in horror at the bite on her neck. I could smell the venom infusing her system even now. I didn't know what had taken over me. I couldn't understand why I had done what I did; but as I heard Rosalie's heart struggle to beat, I knew that I couldn't leave it unfinished.

Crawling forward gingerly, I raised her wrist, took a deep breath, and bit down again, then repeated the action on the other wrist.

Rosalie's heart began to pound in earnest then, the venom beginning to take hold, and seconds later a loud scream was torn from her lungs.

I began to sob then, the shock of what I had actually done hitting me hard.

Turning around, I threw up what blood I had imbibed that evening, continuing to dry retch even when there was nothing left in my stomach. My fists gouged deep holes in the ground as I sobbed uncontrollably and Rosalie screamed again.

The footsteps I had heard earlier were now closer, but I couldn't raise my eyes to see who it was, I couldn't face what I had just done.

"Mom?" The voice was quiet and worried, a hint of fear wavering in the sound.

I held out an arm blindly and was quickly scooped up off the ground and squashed tightly against a broad chest.

I continued to sob as Emmett held me, wincing when another tortured scream rent through the air.

"What have you done?"

**CPOV**

I ran as fast as I could, the full moon out tonight mocking me as I did.

I was still on edge from my confrontation with Edward. I'd like to believe that he was incapable of hurting Bella, that licking up her spilled blood from her face was as far as it was ever going to go, but I would be lying to myself.

He could have killed her, and maybe would have if I hadn't arrived on time.

The look of fear in her eyes...

Bella was only just becoming truly relaxed around us, able to move around our house easily and speak out without fear of reprisal. She was still so hesitant about so much. I could only hope that she would understand and not judge Edward too harshly for his slip.

Fear, anger and concern fuelled my sprint through the forest.

What had she even been doing out in the woods by herself? Had that boy – David – just left her there? When I had come across her she had been shivering and bleeding, tear marks streaked down her face, indicating that she had been crying at some point.

I had been loath to leave her in her upset state, but the screams of terror that we had heard and the presence of my family hunting in the woods tonight, accompanied by Bella's assurance that she could treat her own injuries, had me flying out of the door as fast as possible. As I ran, I promised myself that I would check over her feet and cheek injuries when we returned to the house.

Another scream tore through the air, closer this time, and with a final burst of speed, I raced out onto the quiet road, drawn towards the still figures of my family.

The first person I saw was Esme, wrapped tightly in Emmett's arms as she sobbed uncontrollably. I wanted to reach out and comfort her, but my attention was caught by Jasper and Edward as they crouched over a writhing human on the ground.

At first I thought that the person was merely injured and stepped forward to assist them, but when I got closer, the truth hit me.

The scent of blood was mingled with venom and the screams were reminiscent of the other changes I had witnessed. My brain worked fast as I scanned the worried faces of my family, before my attention turned back towards Esme. The remnants of blood lining her mouth spoke their own story and I staggered back unconsciously, catching her wounded flinch at my action.

Esme had done this? Esme had changed someone?

"Carlisle." Edward's quiet voice broke into my surprise and I turned away from my wife and hurried over to where my two sons were holding down a struggling girl, stopping her from hurting herself as the venom burned its way through her body.

The girl was soaked in her own blood and half of her bones looked to be broken. Beneath her pained gasps and whimpers, I could make out the faint crunching sound of her bones resetting and fusing together as the venom worked its healing magic.

"What happened?" I gasped, looking around for answers but avoiding Esme's eyes.

"Carlisle, please," she begged, although I didn't know what for. "I didn't mean to. I found her and she was just lying there and she was going to die and I just thought...but only for a second...and then in was too late."

I looked over the mangled body of the girl. She looked familiar to me, but I couldn't place her.

"Rosalie Hale," Edward supplied for me. "Vera's cousin."

"I..." I was at a loss. "How did this happen?"

Jasper and Edward exchanged a glance which I pretended to ignore.

"Can you not smell it?" Jasper ventured.

I inhaled and my head jerked back from what I found. "She was raped? Can you tell who it was?"

Jasper nodded. "From what we can tell, it's several of the boys from school." His face grew even graver and he clapped a hand on my shoulder and leaned in to speak quietly in my ear, giving us the illusion of privacy, even if everyone else could hear him. "We think...one of them... We think it's the boy who took Bella to the dance."

"What?" A roar of fury, like I had never heard before, was torn from my throat.

I was on my feet, shaking with rage and ready to storm into town to tear that boy's head off, before Edward leapt in front of me, blocking my path.

"Get out of my way," I growled.

"No. No!" I fought against his restraining grip, breaking free of his hands only to be grabbed from behind by Jasper, his arms locking mine against my sides and dragging me backwards. I continued to thrash in his arms until he spun and used the momentum to toss me into a tree on the other side of the road.

The impact of my back hitting the tree trunk brought me back to my senses and I just felt intense sorrow at the life that had been lost this evening.

"We'll make them pay for what they've done," Jasper reassured me.

I glanced up at him to see a hard look cross his face.

"I won't forget that it could have been Bella lying there half-dead tonight."

I nodded, acknowledging the need the boys would have for retribution and trying not to notice the guilty look on Edward's face at the memory of how close Bella really had been to death tonight.

My mind was brought back to the matter at hand by Rosalie's next cry of pain.

"We need to get her inside before someone comes looking for her."

"And then what?" Emmett asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know. Let's just get her back to the house and then we'll work out what to do from there."

I stepped forward to pick up Rosalie, only to be beaten to it by Emmett. He started running back towards the house, leaving the rest of us in his wake. Edward raised his eyebrows at that, but quickly followed, Jasper running alongside him.

Esme hung back, still quivering with repressed sorrow, and I wrapped my arms around her. I ran my hand soothingly up and down her back, whispering to her that it would all be alright.

"I didn't mean to... I didn't mean to..." she murmured repeatedly.

Pulling back minutely, I cupped my darling wife's face in my hands. "I know you didn't, my love. You have nothing to feel guilty about; you didn't do this."

"I just looked at her and I saw..." Esme's voice faltered. "I saw..."

I pulled her back towards me, rocking her slightly as I closed my eyes against the mental images that sprung unbidden to the front of my mind. I could see Esme's broken and battered body today, just as clearly as when I had found her, unconscious, in that God-forsaken morgue.

"I know," I crooned. "I know, sweetheart. I understand."

And I did understand. Esme had changed Rosalie instinctively, fighting against the waste of life that unnecessary death wrought. It was the same reasoning that had led me to change both Edward and Emmett. They were too young to die; they had seen too little of life while others, myself included, had seen too much. I had changed them both, knowing that they would never have a full and healthy life again, but at least they would be alive, and wasn't that enough?

It was both a selfish act and a generous one, but the decision behind it was always instinctive. There was always that split second when you bit down as to whether you would change them or kill them.

So no, I couldn't blame Esme for her actions. All I could do was support her through the guilt she would feel, even though she was not to blame for the events leading to Rosalie's death.

For now though, I had a second responsibility – Rosalie.

For the sake of the family we needed to decide what we were going to do, none of this could have been foreseen and so we would have to deal with the consequences as best we could.

Squeezing Esme's hand, I led her back towards the house, noting that Rosalie's screams were growing quieter as her throat began to protest at the strain. Emmett had set her gently on the sofa, thoughtfully covering her up with a throw. We would have to find some clothes for her and get her cleaned up.

The boys hung around uncomfortably, wincing every time Rosalie cried out.

Another frightened whimper reached my ears, coming, not from the sofa this time, but from upstairs.

"Has anyone checked on Bella? She was hurt earlier."

Jasper stepped forward. "She's still bleeding. She said it was her feet, apparently they got cut up this evening."

"They did," I confirmed. "I was going to clean them up when I heard..." I gestured towards the dying girl on the sofa.

"She won't let me in her room." Jasper's hurt infected us all and I suddenly felt very tired. "She won't open the door and I would have broken in except I felt how afraid she was. Something happened tonight, something beyond this, which has terrified her."

I nodded grimly.

My poor family was in turmoil and someone needed to take charge.

"Esme, can you please find some clothes that might fit Rosalie. We'll have sweats if nothing else; in fact, those might be more comfortable for her. The rest of you should clean up and then we'll sit down and decide how to handle this; we'll have to cover ourselves from any suspicion in Rosalie's disappearance. In the meantime, I'll go and check on Bella and explain what's happening."

Everyone rushed to do as I said, as if moving quickly was the key to resolving the problems that now faced us.

I took a deep breath before I walked up the stairs, my feet leaden and growing heavier with each step I took. From what Jasper had said Bella was recoiling from us, the events of the night shattering what little trust we had managed to build between us. How was I supposed to explain to her just what had gone on tonight?

I hesitated briefly and then knocked twice on the door, and waited.


	16. Waiting and Searching

**So finally managed to update this story (those of you who are still reading – thank you.) A big thank you goes to lels for beta-ing this chapter for me. As usual, I own nothing of Twilight. I really hope you all enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading.**

**Waiting and Searching**

**EPOV**

A loud tortured scream rang out from the spare room at the back of the house where we had carefully placed Rosalie for the duration of her change. Although we were fairly certain that she was now feeling nothing beyond the burning of the venom, Esme had still insisted on making her as comfortable as possible.

Rosalie screamed upstairs again and across the living room, I saw Bella flinch and tug her knees tighter to her chest from where she was huddled on the opposite side of the room from me. Her eyes were bloodshot from stress and crying and dark circles where beginning to form where she hadn't had any sleep for the last two days. If she was just a shade paler, then she could have been easily mistaken for a vampire.

She clutched the book she was pretending to read just a little tighter as Esme spoke to her.

"It won't be long now until she wakes up, Bella. The fact that she's screaming is a good sign as it means that the venom has healed her enough to repair the damage to her throat."

I internally winced at her attempt to sound positive about Rosalie's screaming. Her explanation wasn't comforting at all and I wasn't surprised when Bella merely glared at her. All the closeness that Bella and Esme had managed to gain through hard work and trust over time had vanished in the space of the evening and once again my adoptive mother was viewed as the enemy.

...and she wasn't the only one.

Bella had allowed Carlisle to treat her that night, stitching up the cut on her cheek, which unfortunately my...attentions...had made worse, and cleaning up and bandaging her feet, but after that she had kept a safe distance from us all. Any attempt to approach her was met by her retreat and if Esme or I tried to talk to her at all it was met by a sullen glare and silence.

I really couldn't blame her either.

Over the course of one night, Bella had seen the worst of both humanity and vampire behaviour. Despite her initial reservations, Bella had managed to cast aside her fear of us, she had began to trust us, love us even, then Esme had turned her friend and I had attacked her.

Even now, despite my ever-present disgust with my behaviour, I could still remember the taste of her blood, the warmth of her hot skin pressed against my hand, the beat of her pulse against her jugular as it throbbed in protest against my touch, and the sheer ambrosia which had ran down my throat. It was everything I had wanted since I had first scented that delicious lifeblood that flowed from the small girl sitting in my car, and yet, at the same time, it wasn't what I wanted at all.

I had followed Carlisle's discipline of only feeding from animals faithfully since I had returned to my family in the thirties and I had truly believed that I had conquered the thirst for human blood that had threatened to control me. Since Bella had come to live with us, I had even marvelled at my own strength in fighting against the perpetual burn in my throat. I had watched as my brothers and parents had got closer to this human, laughing with her, playing with her, touching her without fear of her breaking from a hug and I had wanted that so badly. I had wanted that human connection, and gradually I had began to believe that it was possible and that one day I would be just as close to Bella as Emmett or Jasper were.

Now, I seriously doubted that it was ever going to happen.

I had smelled that delicious blood and every thought of resisting, of Bella being a beloved sister, had flown out of my mind and all that was left was instinct.

Instinct had told me to kill her.

Instinct had told me to sink my teeth into the white skin of her throat and let that intoxicating elixir pour into my mouth until there was nothing left.

And then she had said my name, her tone bewildered, but there was still a faint hint of trust there; even as I had approached her, she had believed that I would protect her and keep her safe. And I had fought to keep that faith in me justified, but I hadn't been able to resist that one taste...

"Edward!"

My name, growled out sharply, jolted me out of my reflections and I blinked numbly only to find Jasper crouched defensively in front of me, his arms spread wide in protection. Bella stood behind him, her shoulders hunched inwards as she tried to make herself appear as unobtrusive as possible.

I hadn't even realised that I had crossed the room towards her.

I held up my hands in show of surrender and slowly backed off. "Sorry. I don't know what I was thinking there."

Jasper snorted but relaxed his fighting position. From his thoughts I could tell that the blood lust that had arose unconsciously in me at my memories of drinking Bella's blood was waning, but all the same I didn't want to stick around to witness everyone else's accusing glares.

Fleeing as fast as I could, I retreated back up to my room, breezing past the spare room and noting that Emmett, who had not left Rosalie's side since we had brought her back home, had now moved closer to her wildly thrashing body and was now clasping her hand gently, his voice soothing as he recounted all of our pasts to her in an effort to distract her from the pain she was going through. I could've told him that it was useless, that the only thing Rosalie was conscious of right now was the searing fire tracking its way through her brain, burning up and altering the remaining human cells.

She would wake up soon, quicker than expected as well from the rate the venom was working.

I paced the carpet in my room, running my hands frantically through my hair. Everything was changing and it was all happening too fast.

Esme's lapse and subsequent withdrawal from human blood, Rosalie's turning, Bella's disastrous prom night, followed by my attack on her.

I had never thought of myself as an overly dramatic person, but at this moment all I wanted to do was throw my hands up in the air and bemoan the changes that had been wrought over our family in the space of just one night.

We were back to square one, only this time things were more complicated as we not only had a human to worry about, but a newborn as well. So far we had only been concerned about getting Rosalie through her change with the minimum of distress, but I knew that before long we were going to have to come up with a plan as to what to do with her.

Even though the town was small, there was still far too much temptation around, and all of us in our hearts were preparing for the move we knew we would have to make.

The phone downstairs rang and I heard a mental pause as all of my family immediately stopped what they were doing. Rosalie's screams abruptly cut off as Emmett placed a hand over her mouth, all the while apologising while desperately pleading with her to stay quiet just for a minute.

I could hear every uneasy step as Bella shuffled reluctantly towards the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi Bella." Vera's voice sounded tired and miserable. "How are you?"

"I'm alright," my sister quickly reassured her. "What about you?" Only a vampire would've caught the slight hitch in her breath before she asked the next question. "Any sign of Rosalie?"

It had deeply disturbed Bella to have to lie to her best friend about her cousin's disappearance. The first time Vera had called to report that Rosalie hadn't returned home from Prom, Bella had ended the conversation locked in her bathroom, her sobs of distress tugging at all of our consciences. That evening, Carlisle and Jasper had been forced to sit down with her and go over the story she was to give people if they asked what she knew about the events of that night.

What was hardest was explaining to her that we couldn't interfere in the police investigation by leading them towards Rosalie's killers.

"But we know they did it," she had protested. "They have to go to jail. What if they attack some other girl now because they think they can get away with it."

Jasper had growled at that and his thoughts flashed to Bella's date and his friends, their faces memorised. "Trust me, Bella. They won't get away with it."

She hadn't been satisfied by our reassurances, but then she wasn't privy to the graphic and highly elaborate machinations of Jasper's mind. He wasn't prepared to take this incident lightly.

Over the crackle of the line, I heard Vera sigh. "No, nothing. It's like she just disappeared into thin air. No one's seen her..." Her tone grew slightly bitter. "...Or at least, no one's admitting to seeing her."

Bella swallowed. "Wh...what do you mean?"

"The police have been around to question Royce, but he's not admitting anything. They're fairly certain that he's the last person to have definitely seen her, but according to him she walked out on him at the Prom so he didn't bother seeing her home."

There was silence as both girls seemed to gather themselves.

"Do you want me to come over?" Bella finally asked.

"No, you better not. My mom's still running around completely stressed, calling police and shelters and hospitals just in case Rose shows up somewhere else, and my dad's not much better. I just wanted to get away from it all for a few minutes, sorry."

"It's not a problem. Let me know if you change your mind though."

"Yeah, I will do." Vera paused, and I heard some noise that I couldn't quite make out coming from her end of the line. "Sorry, Bella, I've got to go. Harry's crying."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later."

The two girls said their goodbyes, before hanging up.

No one attempted to speak to Bella in an effort to make her feel better; we all knew by now that there was nothing we could say to make this situation any easier or better than it was.

Her footsteps grew louder as she crossed the living room and headed up the stairs slowly. She had just reached the first floor landing when all hell broke loose.

Emmett bellowed in surprise and there was the distinctive crash of bricks buckling against the force of a body hitting the wall. A sharp growl came from the spare room and I sprinted downstairs as I realised that Rosalie had woken up even earlier than I had predicted.

I reached the hallway at the same time that Jasper, Carlisle and Esme did, and just in time to see Rosalie pitch my father back down the stairs.

Snarling, she turned her attention back to Bella who was cowering back against the wall, her eyes bright with fright. Esme stood in front of her, the last line of defence, but I knew that if it came down to a fight between the two female vampires, my mother would not win.

Rosalie shot forward only to be grabbed around the neck and waist and thrown backwards by Jasper.

My brother immediately began to telegraph instructions to me.

'I'm going to try and get my arm around her neck, once I've grabbed her, I need you to come around from the side and lock her arms down so she can't get them around me.'

He nodded at me and we both leapt into action. Jasper hooked his elbow just below Rosalie's chin, only for her to immediately twist her head around and sink her teeth into his wrist. He hissed at the sting, but tightened his grip on her, one hand winding through her hair to yank her head back. The bite mark revealed was a glowing red against his white skin.

I grabbed Rosalie's right arm, only for her to punch me in the head with her left. I staggered backwards, feeling the cracks that had webbed across my face quickly seal up and heal.

This time when I tried to restrain her bucking body, I used my speed to stay out of the reach of her swinging hands.

"You know," Jasper bit out through gritted teeth, "this is a lot easier when you're just trying to kill them instead of restraining them."

Rosalie thrashed her legs, kicking out as I managed to finally get a tight grasp on her arms, pinning them to her sides, but this time I was braced for the pain and only grunted at the impact. Emmett reappeared a second later and managed to wind his arms around her legs so we had now completely immobilised her despite her best attempts to get free.

"What do we do now?" Emmett grunted as a foot kicked him in the chin, setting his jaw at an unnatural angle.

"We need to get her out of the house and away from Bella," Carlisle commanded. "Get her out the back and into the woods where she can hunt. Go through one of the windows if you have to."

Emmett laughed, the sound strangely appropriate for the situation we were in. "Take her through the wall if you like. She threw me through it a minute ago when she first woke up." His voice was full of nothing but admiration.

"Come on then."

Clinging onto the flailing vampire, we all ran for the gap in the wall. As we sprinted for the cover that the forest gave us, I cursed once more at how things had gone so badly so fast.

**EmPOV**

After a few more scuffles in the forest with Rosalie, my brothers finally departed to take her on a hunt and introduce her to the vegetarian lifestyle while I reconnected my hand to the rest of my arm and Carlisle checked that it would heal properly.

I wasn't too worried. I'd had worst injuries in the past from when we had encountered more unfriendly members of our species. In fact, I was rather impressed that little Rosalie Hale had managed to take on me, Edward and Jasper and still do so much damage before being restrained.

Carlisle had felt that the best way to calm her was to do something about her thirst, so she had dutifully been led off into the woods. I had wanted to go with them for her first hunt, but Carlisle had asked me to stay behind to he could patch me up and he figured that if Jasper couldn't keep her calm enough and she bolted, Edward was probably the only one of us fast enough to catch up with her as well as anticipate what she would do next.

"You know she can't stay here." Carlisle's voice cut into my thoughts and I turned to face him.

I didn't even bother pretending not to know what he was talking about. "I know. I saw her when she woke up; she would have gone straight for Bella if you, Eddie and Jasper hadn't stepped in."

"I have to say, I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do," he confessed. "Normally in cases such as this we'd stay in the area long enough to divert any suspicion and then move on to somewhere less populated to give Rosalie more time to acclimatize to her new state of being, but this time," he paused, "this time we have Bella to consider."

"We can't pull her out of school," Esme quickly interjected. "She's only just got settled here, she has friends here, we can't take her away before she's gained any stability."

"Well, that, and it would look suspicious if we all suddenly disappeared," I added.

"I've sent Edward into town a few times," Carlisle said. "So far there's no talk or thoughts concerning us at all. The general consensus, rightly, is that her disappearance is linked to the boy who accompanied her to the dance and his friends, but they haven't been able to pin anything definitive on him yet."

"Of course they haven't." Something told me that this wasn't the first time King and his friends had done something like this, although I was fairly certain that this was the first time they had actually managed to kill the girl they were violating.

I growled lowly at the thought that it could've been my baby Bells lying there on the side of the road, blood covering every part of her body.

"Emmett!" Carlisle's sharp reproof cut off the rumbling in my chest and I half-smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry. It just makes me so angry to think what they could have done, - what they did do..."

Carlisle's face darkened and Esme flinched. I quickly changed the subject, not wanting to wind up my father any further.

"What do we do about getting Rosalie settled then?"

Carlisle took a deep breath as he mentally ran through his option and then pinched his nose in frustration.

"As far as I can see, there's no way for us all to move on quickly, not without drawing attention to ourselves and not without causing difficulties with both a newborn and a human in the house. As much as I think we can work on Rosalie's blood lust, we wouldn't be capable of watching her all the time – not with keeping up our public appearances as a family – and her state would be far too volatile to trust that she wouldn't suddenly attack Bella..."

He hesitated and I grimaced as I anticipated what he would say next.

"We're going to have to split up for a while."

Esme looked dismayed at the prospect. "Oh, Carlisle, do you think we'll have to? I don't like to think of us all living apart."

"Where are you thinking of sending Rosalie then? Denali?" I asked.

He nodded. "The sisters would be willing to help, I'm sure, especially after they hear why we need somewhere to shelter Rosalie. And they have experience in dealing with newborns; it's where we took you when you were first turned to avoid any collateral damage."

"I remember."

As a newborn, I had taken advantage of the wild and isolated freedom that Denali offered to run around the countryside, feeding copiously and fighting with my new brother and fucking the very-obliging Kate. I wasn't convinced that Rosalie would get the same benefits out of Alaska as I had, but I had to agree that if there was anywhere safe for her to live out her first year as a vampire, Denali would be it.

"What do you suggest then?" Esme glanced between Carlisle and I.

"We can't leave the area here – it would look suspicious and Bella has just begun to get settled here. I feel it would be detrimental to her to pull her out of school and whisk her away somewhere else. It would also look strange if Bella's parents suddenly disappeared. And we know that Rosalie can't stay here; not only would it be putting the town's people in unnecessary danger, but we couldn't take the risk that she would venture too close to the town and someone would recognise her."

He reached out his hand which Esme gratefully took hold of. She huddled close into the side of his body and I felt her misery at the prospect of her family splitting up.

"Do you want me to go up there with her?" Although I knew that I would hate to leave my baby sister alone, at the same time I felt a draw towards Rosalie that was hard to resist.

"You, Edward and Jasper," Carlisle confirmed. "I think between the three of you, you should be able to travel up to Alaska without any trouble and with your combined skills and experience, along with the help of the sisters, you should be more than up to the task."

"When do you think they'll have to leave?"

"From the way the situation deteriorated tonight, I'd say as soon as possible," Carlisle answered his wife. "I'm not sure if Bella will still be awake or not by the time that we get back to the house, but I think given the events of this evening, it's safer to keep her and Rosalie apart for now."

He shook his head and I was struck all of a sudden by how tired he looked.

"If we pack now while the others are still hunting then you'll be able to leave straight away."

We ran back to the house and I immediately grabbed a backpack and began stuffing clothes in it. Elsewhere in the house, Carlisle was packing bags for Edward and Jasper while Esme was searching through her own wardrobe for clothes which would fit Rosalie. I was so preoccupied by my task, that I didn't notice the lone heartbeat in the house getting closer to my room.

"You're leaving?"

The level of hurt in that voice shocked me out of my actions.

I turned around to look at Bella who was standing just inside the door. I opened my arms and she ran into them, clinging to me as tightly as she could.

"You know we have to, Bells. We can't have Rosalie trying to attack you like she did earlier on."

"Okay." I expected more of a fight, but I should have known that Bella would be sensible enough to see the reasoning behind our leaving, even if she didn't like it.

"I'm going to miss you," she mumbled.

"Aww, Bella. I'm going to miss you too. But you know that it's not like I'm going to disappear off the face of the earth. We're going to Alaska, and contrary to popular opinion, they do have phones and the internet there. We'll still talk to each other all the time."

"You promise?" Her voice was small and uncertain and at that moment it truly struck me just how young Bella really was, despite how mature she sometimes acted.

"I promise," I vowed, hugging her tighter. "You wouldn't be able to get rid of me even if you tried."

"Good," she declared fiercely. "And promise you'll make Jasper call me too?"

"Absolutely. I'll even make sure good old Eddie gives you a call every now and then."

She froze momentarily, but it was enough for me to notice. It hadn't escaped my attention that for the last two days Bella had avoided being alone in a room with both Esme _and_ Edward. I didn't ask though; I figured if she wanted to tell me what was going on then she would eventually.

"Well, we can't ask for miracles," she brushed my offer off and pulled away after hugging me one last time.

Half an hour later as I sprinted northwards through the forest, my brothers and Rosalie by my side, I swore to myself that I would do everything in my power to keep my promises and not let Bella down.

I knew better than anyone though that there were no guarantees for the future.


	17. Threatening Behaviour

**Here's the next chapter for you all. I hope you like it. Thanks to my lovely pre-reader for this chapter msrachelgarner for checking it over for me.**

**As always, I own nothing. Thanks for reading.**

**Threatening Behaviour**

**BPOV**

Time passed slowly without my brothers here over the summer. Carlisle and Esme made the effort but it just wasn't the same. I got on with Carlisle well enough, but my wariness of Esme only slightly vanished. I knew she was still the same kind and caring person that she had always been while I was here, but I just couldn't get the sight of Rosalie, covered in blood, her face scrunched up in pain as she screamed, out of my head.

Logically, I knew that Esme had nothing to do with Rosalie's death, but I struggled to get past the panic and horror of that night.

I also hadn't realised how much I relied upon Emmett and Jasper to help me sleep at night. Without either of them there, the nightmares returned.

Visions of blood – my mother's, my father's, Rosalie's – swam through my head every night. I was back at that cabin again, James pinning Rosalie's limp and broken body against his chest as he smirked down at me, his mouth smeared with her blood, a sadistic smile on his face. Victoria would join him then, laughing, joking, streaks of shimmering red covering her face and disappearing into the red of her hair. James would drop Rosalie's body and the two would throw back their heads in delight as she convulsed at their feet.

More than once I would jerk awake, cold sweat covering my body, a scream of my own on my lips.

The first couple of times this happened, Carlisle and Esme would come and check up on me, but in my terror-filled, half-asleep state I was unable to tell them from the vampires who had killed my parents and tortured me, and they soon learnt to leave me alone until morning.

The lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll on my body as well, and I was constantly tired all the time, my natural clumsiness becoming more pronounced. The guilt was getting to me too.

Vera and her family were still frantically searching for any sign of Rosalie, although their hope for finding her alive was now next to nothing. Whenever I visited my friend looked haunted, dark circles under her eyes as she tried to make the best of the situation. Harry intuitively had picked up on his mother's mood and was constantly fussing, small wails coming from him on a regular basis.

At this point I began to believe that finding Rosalie's body would be better for her family, rather than them being left hanging with no clue what had happened to her.

I knew that would never happen, but as the weeks went on I grew more and more angry at her murderers.

Of everyone in town, they were the ones least concerned by Rosalie's disappearance. I hadn't been around to see their reaction to finding out that her body hadn't been discovered by the side of the road where they had dumped her, but I had caught sight of them when I went grocery shopping one day.

They were hanging out in the parking lot, leaning against the hoods of their cars and laughing freely as they tossed a football around.

It sickened me.

I badly wanted to just scream at them, to let them and everyone else know what they had done, to see the smug smiles drop off their faces as they were led away to jail cells.

Instead I hurried through my grocery shopping, my shoulders hunched as I tried to avoid their attention. I didn't want them coming anywhere near me. I just had to trust Jasper when he had promised me that they would get their punishment eventually. I just had to be patient.

My patience ran out three weeks later though when Vera came to visit me.

"We're moving, Bella."

I stared at her blankly. "Moving?" I repeated.

She sighed and bounced Harry gently on her hip when he started to fuss. "My parents don't want to stay here any longer; they don't think it's safe, especially as nothing's being done by the police. My aunt Lillian isn't coping very well so we're going to go and stay with her in Rochester for a while. My dad's going to stay behind in case the police get any leads," she snorted, "but I doubt that'll happen."

"You're leaving?" Tears pricked my eyes as I realised that I would be losing my closest friend here. Something she had said struck me though. "What do you mean by the police not doing anything?"

We both moved to sit down on the sofa and Harry immediately broke free of Vera's grasp and crawled across the cushions to sit on my lap. I hugged him tightly, not wanting him or his mom to leave.

Vera sighed again and rubbed a hand tiredly over her eyes.

"We know what's happened to her...everyone knows what's happened to her, and everyone knows who did it. Fucking Royce King and the rest of his bastards!" she cursed suddenly.

I bit my lip as she ranted.

"Everyone knows he did it. Just like everyone knows what he did to Lisa Jenson. But he's such a sneaky bastard that there's no proof. They questioned him, you know – had him down at the station and everything – but there's no solid evidence to prove what he's done with her..." Vera's words broke off as she choked back a sob.

"He said that he dropped Rosalie off at our house straight after Prom and that she must have vanished between then and the morning, but I know he didn't. My mom was up with Harry and she said she didn't hear a car pull up at all when he said it did. But of course he's got all his friends to give him alibis and because they're probably involved they're all lying too."

This time tears did begin to slide down her face and reaching out, I pulled her into a hug. She clung to me tightly, her other arm wrapped around her son, and I felt my own tears begin to prick at my eyes.

I wanted to tell her what had happened to Rosalie. I wanted to say that even though her cousin would never be the same again, she was safe for now and nothing would be able to hurt her again.

Instead, I just hugged her and let her cry, and hoped that it would be enough.

Eventually Harry started fussing between us and we broke apart to give him back his space. Slithering down off the sofa, he wandered over to the open French doors and toddled across the garden, his shouts of "Es, Es," audible from inside. I watched as my adoptive mother swiftly approached him and swept him into the air, spinning him round and round while he giggled.

For one brief second I caught a glimpse of the look on her face and realised how devastated she was as well by Vera's grief and the news of her family leaving.

Renewed anger towards Royce, David and all their measly little friends hit me then and I found myself seeing Esme's actions for what they were. She hadn't meant to cause Rosalie pain; she'd only meant to repair the damage those thoughtless bastards had done.

"Is there no chance of them finding any evidence against them?" I asked Vera.

She shook her head. "They've found evidence that she was in Royce's car, of course, but then they were always going to find that. He never denied that he took her to Prom with him in his car."

"Anything else?"

Vera hesitated, and then spoke quietly. "They found a very small trace of her blood... It was in David's car."

I froze, my mind flashing to the sight of my date for that evening – his casual smile, the way he had laughed... and the way he had mysteriously disappeared later on in the night and I had been forced to walk home when he was God knows where.

"D-David?" I had to be absolutely sure of what Vera was saying.

She nodded sympathetically, her face a picture of misery. "I know. I hate to say it, Bella, but I'm really glad he ditched your ass at the end of the evening and you had to walk home."

I couldn't wrap my mind around it, even though I should've already known it from what my brothers had told me before they left. For some reason, it hadn't sunk in that my date of that evening was actually involved in creating the injuries I had seen Rosalie with that night. Hearing Vera say it, however, made it all the more real to me.

"So they think he had something to do with it? With Rosalie's disappearance, I mean?"

Vera rubbed her hand over her eyes. "They've closed ranks. Royce says that Rosalie cut her foot on some glass or something during the evening, and that it must have been transferred to David's car when all the boys met up afterwards. They're all watching each other's backs and without finding either Rosalie or..." she paused and swallowed, but then continued," then there's nothing the police can really do. They've got their suspicions, but no proof."

That was the problem, I thought, when I was wandering around the house later after Vera had left. She had given me another fierce hug before she went and even though we promised to stay in touch, I doubted that she would be returning anytime soon. At least, not until her cousin's body was found, something that I knew was impossible. And without Rosalie's body there was no proof of what those monsters had done to her.

I paced my room, my anger welling up inside me so that I felt like I would burst and the walls felt like they were closing in on me. I wanted to just scream it all out. Instead, I grabbed my jacket and shoved my feet into my sneakers.

"Esme," I called as I thundered down the stairs. She appeared at the bottom so quickly that I had to fight not to jump at her sudden appearance. "I need to get out of the house for a while, so I'm going to walk over to the grocery store."

She twisted her hands anxiously – although we were getting on better now, we still weren't quite at the level of comfort that we had been before. "Do you want me to come with you? I can drive you there if you like?"

I smiled at her. "No, it's alright. I feel like walking. I probably won't be that long any way; I just need to get out of the house for a bit."

She nodded reluctantly, but dashed off only to return a second later with some money, "just in case you see something you want to get."

I plodded down the road, my head down, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. I tried to push everything out of my mind, but it all kept creeping back upon me and I wished that Emmett was here to make it all better. He and Jasper would know what to do for sure, only I hadn't spoken to them in a few weeks. Our last call hadn't been very long either; I had barely said hello to both of them before there was lots of shouting and screeching in the background accompanied by several loud thuds. They had told me to wait for a minute only to then leave me hanging around on the end of the line for another half an hour. Eventually the phone had been picked up again and a friendly female voice – one of the sisters, I guessed – told me that they would phone back later.

They had, but all our conversations from then on had been short and to the point before they had to run off after Rosalie again.

The gravel of the road made way for the slick tarmac of the store parking lot and I looked up at the sound of a cackling laugh.

_They_ were back again. This time watching and laughing as I stumbled over a rough piece of ground, only instead of ignoring them and keeping my head down like I had done before, I met their eyes and scowled at them, enjoying that their laughter cut off abruptly at my unfriendly look.

Grabbing a basket, I trundled aimlessly through the store, throwing random items in. I was halfway down the second aisle when he came up behind me.

"Hey, Bella."

I spun around sharply, the corner of my basket hitting David in the stomach. From the corner of my eyes I saw his gang hanging around at the ends of the aisles, blocking me in. I held the food in front of me as if it was some kind of defence as my nervousness rose.

He laughed, but it didn't sound right. There was an edge to his tone now that set me on edge.

"What? Are you not going to say 'hello' back to me or something?"

I stared at him, still saying nothing, my mind working frantically as I tried to work out how to get away from him and his friends. Unfortunately it was right before rush hour so the store was fairly empty still.

He held up his hands at my continued silence and laughed again. "Look, Bella, I know you must be pissed off at me after what happened at Prom, but I'm really sorry you had to find your own way home. I literally just stepped aside to talk to my friends and then when I got back you were gone. I just assumed that you had managed to find another ride home and I'm sorry that you felt you had to do that. It ruined what would otherwise have been a perfect night."

I could swear my eyes were getting wider at the crap he was spewing out. It hadn't been a perfect night, far from it, and the fact that he could describe it like that after what he had done made my blood boil.

He continued to talk, ignoring my quiet appraisal of him. "...and so I was thinking I could make it up to you somehow. I mean I know your brothers have left town for the summer so I..." He appeared more confident now, nothing like the stuttering boy who had wilted under Emmett's fierce glare, and I wondered if he had gained some sort of sick confidence out of what he had done, whether he had told himself that raping and disfiguring a beautiful girl like that would make him feel like a man. "...picnic. I know this great little spot through the forest and it'll take a while to walk to, but..."

"No," I interrupted him.

His eyes bulged unattractively. "No? Just no? You're just going to turn me down like that?"

"Just no," I confirmed, and then turned my back on him and walked down the aisle hoping that by the time I got there his friends would've moved out the way.

"Look, if this is about Prom..."

"It's not about Prom!" I turned and spat at him, keeping my voice low. "Do you honestly think I'm _that_ bothered by you running off with your friends? I know what you and your friends did! And there's no way in hell I'm going to go anywhere with any of you!"

Surprise covered David's face and he took a step back from me. His mouth opened and then closed abruptly again. "I don't know what you're talking about." I wonder if he sounded as unconvincing to himself as he did to me. "I was only asking if you wanted..."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," I bit out. "I don't want to end up as a corpse by the side of the road!"

This time when he stumbled back in shock, I made my escape, hurrying past the boys who were still lurking around.

It was only when I had scurried my way to the other side of the store from them that I realised what I had done. I had basically told them that I knew what they had done to Rosalie; I had exposed myself to speculation from these boys and I knew that they wouldn't let it go. Cursing my stupidity, I tried to hurry the counters so I could get out of here and safely back home as quickly as possible.

I had nearly made it to the checkouts when I was surrounded. Every way I turned I was met by threatening faces. I stepped backwards automatically and tripped over my own feet, my back slamming against the chiller. The gang of boys moved even closer and an arm shot out to pin my shoulder back.

"Don't touch me!" I jerked away.

One of the boys, Royce King, moved closer, sneering in my face. "Listen, little girl, I don't know what you think you know, or don't know, but you're going to keep your mouth shut or else..."

"Or else, what?" I demanded, a stupid rush of bravery momentarily overcoming my building dread. "What will you do? Attack me? Rape me? Toss me out of your car in a bloody heap like you did to Rosalie? You wouldn't get away with it!"

"We already have."

Something about the way he said that, quietly and almost mechanically, made my fear rise again and I swallowed heavily. As if he was a vampire and could smell my panic, he got even closer.

"Those brothers of yours that normally watch out for you aren't around. They've left for the summer; everyone knows that. Who's looking out for you now? No one." He smirked cruelly. "So watch what you say and who you talk to or..."

"Everything okay here?"

I had never been so relieved to be interrupted; Mr Olsen, the elderly owner of the shop had come round the corner at exactly the right moment.

With one last warning glance, Royce made some kind of signal and both he and his friends backed off. "No problems here. We were just leaving."

They stalked off as a group, David casting one last glance behind him as they left the store. I hid inside for another twenty minutes before I was brave enough to risk venturing out into the parking lot. Once I was there I froze, unsure of what to do next.

I didn't want to walk home – I couldn't walk home – there was no way of knowing where Royce's gang were hiding. He had been right when he had pointed out that I had no protectors around. I was all alone...

...and now I had a target on my back.

My breathing began to speed up as panic overtook me.

What had I done? Was I completely stupid?

In one reckless moment I had left myself completely vulnerable.

Sure, I had Carlisle and Esme, but apart from Rosalie's turning, I really couldn't see either of them being aggressive enough to help me.

I stayed standing still in the lot, my shoulders shaking as I fought to keep a panic attack at bay. My eyes were watering fiercely and all I wanted to do was run home and hide in my room... but I couldn't walk home. I had to stay in public, where people could see me and Royce, David and all their gang of friends couldn't hurt me without someone noticing.

_Please, please, please..._

As if it were the answer to my prayers, a black car suddenly swung around the corner and stopped in front of me. I ran full speed around the front of the vehicle and crashed into Carlisle as he got out of the car.

"Bella?" He was worried. "Is everything alright?"

"It's fine," I managed to gasp. "I'm just glad you're here. I didn't know how was going to get home."

Carlisle shot me a strange look, but didn't try to press me for a reason for my breathlessness.

"Esme called me at work and said that you were coming down here. She thought that if you had lots of bags they might be too heavy to carry back with you, so I said I would swing by on my way home to see if I could catch you."

I tried to smile at him. "Great, thanks."

He watched me carefully on the way home and I could tell that he was torn between letting me speak to him on my own terms and pressing me for details for why I was so upset.

A massive sense of relief came over me when we finally reached the house, and making some lousy excuse, I ran upstairs and grabbed the cordless phone by the side of my bed, my finger frantically trying, and failing, to accurately dial the right numbers.

Eventually I managed to calm myself down enough to get my hands back under control and tried again.

The ringing of the phone at the other end of the line sounded increasingly loud as I prayed that the person on the other end would pick up.

_Please pick up_.

"Hello, Bella?"

"Oh, thank God."


	18. Eliminating The Enemy

**Hello everyone. This chapter took a while as I was having a wee bit of inspiration problem, so I have to say a massive thank you to both elidunbigboot and msrachelgarner for helping me get this chapter to you all. I hope you like it and, as always, I don't own anything.**

**PS. This chapter has a wee bit of violence in it so you have been warned in advance.**

**Eliminating the Enemy**

**JPOV**

I cursed myself as I sprinted down south.

I knew that King and all his friends were a danger to Bella; I had seen the predatory looks aimed towards my sister in the weeks leading up to Prom, I had felt the lust, but until I had seen what they had done to Rosalie I hadn't realised that they were ruthless enough to actually act on their desires. I knew full well that if Bella hadn't got impatient and walked home, she could quite easily have been the one lying on our living room floor, screaming as the venom permeated every inch of her body.

But the shock of the attack, of Rosalie's turning, her attack on Bella and our hasty removal up to Denali had taken my eye off the ball. I was so concerned with keeping Rosalie's strength and emotions under control that I hadn't watched closely enough over Bella.

I would be having words with her when I got back though about learning when to keep her mouth shut. As much as I admired her bravery for taking on the gang like that, I was aware that now, more than ever, she had painted a bright red target on her back.

I had left Denali immediately after her phone call with just a quick word to Edward about going back to Oregon to watch over Bella. I wasn't doing much good with Rosalie anyway. Although my gift came in handy from time to time, the horror of her death had left her with a tendency to blindly attack any males that came near her, leaving most of her care to the sisters. I had asked Edward if he wanted to return with me, but he had declined, shifting uneasily, guilt to the forefront.

I didn't bother to stick around to analyse his emotions though.

As I ran, I considered and discarded multiple ways of getting rid of Royce's gang. It would have to be something relatively low-key, nothing as dramatic and bloody as I might have liked, as the last thing I wanted was to draw any attention to our family. Unfortunately this meant that I wouldn't be able to move about as freely as I wanted. My sudden reappearance, followed by any deaths, would be questioned, especially given how soon my brothers and I had left after Rosalie's disappearance.

I wanted them to feel terror though. They deserved it after everything that they had done.

I stopped running abruptly as the answer struck me.

My gift.

I hadn't considered it before given that it had been a long time since I'd used it as an offensive power. Mostly I relied on it nowadays to calm and soothe humans and vampires alike so that they felt comfortable in my family's presence. But the more I thought I about twisting it suit my own needs, the more pieces fell into place.

I started running again, working out the details in my mind as I did.

I would have to implement it straight away; I couldn't return to the house first as Carlisle would no doubt try and stop me from carrying out my plan. His was a path of reason and compassion, mine was one of war and death. I could not afford to be reasonable and just about my course of action.

I crossed over the border and down through Washington quickly enough, pushing my speed to the limit. The key was to strike while no-one was expecting it.

Those stupid bastards were probably relying on their intimidation tactics to keep Bella quiet until they found a way to deal with her. They wouldn't expect a retaliation so soon. I was fairly certain that Bella had called me without Carlisle or Esme knowing as well, which meant that she had bought me some time to attack before my adoptive father realised I was back in town and tried to head me off.

I slowed down as I crossed the state border with Oregon, checking my watch as I did. It was early morning still. I had just enough time to implement my plan before the rest of the town woke up to begin its day. Just enough time to do what had to be done and then get out of sight.

My nose led me straight to my victims. Their scent was indelibly stamped across my memory from Rosalie's attack.

I went for the lackeys first. Two boys whose names I hadn't bothered to learn. Neither of them woke up from their sleep as I created a lethal chemical cocktail inside their bodies that sent their hearts pumping into overdrive before suddenly stilling. It was quick, painless, and above all, quiet.

I felt no satisfaction as I move onwards.

This wasn't about the pleasure of the kill or the exhilaration of the fight. This was quite simply about eliminating the enemy with as little fuss as possible.

Matt Adams and Bradley Porter were next, swiftly followed by Royce's wingman Joshua Hartfield. For them I was a little more elaborate. I was certain that the rumours concerning Lisa Jenson's alleged rape and suicide were true, and Rosalie had just been strike two for them. I had no intention of allowing them the third strike of my sister.

So I woke them up.

I stood in the shadows in their bedrooms, sending sharp jolts of shock to their bodies until they woke. I watched the panic overtake their faces as unknown fear and claustrophobia began to overtake them, their hands scrabbling frantically at their chests, as if they could stop their hearts from beating so frantically. I solved that problem for them. Only Matt cried out in the end, and I was out of the house and gone before his pitiful wail alerted anyone else to his distress.

There were only two left now. Just David and Royce still alive.

I stood on the sidewalk in the centre of town debating which way to go. As much as I wanted to go and tear Royce limb from limb and make him feel even half the pain he caused those other girls, I wasn't sure that he was mine to punish.

Rosalie was adamant that she would have her revenge on Royce and all the other boys who had left her by the side of the road. It was all she talked about in Denali on those rare occasions where her bloodlust and rage had subsided enough for her to think. Unfortunately, time and the threat to Bella meant that I couldn't give her the bloodbath that I knew she wanted, but I could at least leave the perpetrator of the act for her to torment.

David was left then.

Of all of Rosalie's attackers, he was the one I wanted to hurt the most, because he was the one who had come the closest to hurting Bella. I was in no doubt that if my little sister had got into her date's car to drive home, she would never have arrived there...

... And then we wouldn't be looking at the mysterious, bloodless deaths of several of the town's young men, but a bloody slaughter as my family and I hunted down anyone who might be involved, even if it was just in the most inconsequential way.

Dawn was just breaking over the horizon when I reached the house I was looking for. One of the downstairs windows had been carelessly left open and I smiled at the sight. They really were making it just _too_ easy for me. Sliding silently into the house, I followed the boy's bitter scent up to his room. It was a messy place to be and my nose wrinkled up at the plates of discarded, half-rotting food that were scattered across the carpet. A heap of dirty clothes in the corner of the room also made me grimace; humans could be so disgusting sometimes.

Just as I was about to approach the sleeping boy in the bed, a glimmer of another scent caught my attention. I frowned in confusion as I followed my nose to a cardboard box shoved under a pile of shirts. Pulling the lid off, I was greeted by a sight that made me snarl in fury.

A cluster of red roses attached to a ribbon was lying in the corner of the box. A corsage.

And not just any corsage.

The white ribbon was absolutely saturated in Rosalie's scent and my sensitive nose picked out the remnants of her blood embedded upon the satin.

This was a trophy.

The depravity of these humans struck me then and my intentions of gradually waking David up disappeared.

A growl ripped out of my throat as I gripped the boy by the neck and slammed his body against the wall. His eyes flew open in shock at being torn from his bed and one look into my black eyes had him opening his mouth to scream for help. I tightened my hand around his neck, squeezing his vocal box so his cry for help came out as a squeak. His legs frantically kicked out at me and I felt one of his toes break as his foot impacted against my skin.

"Hello David."

His fear was intoxicating and I drank it all in as he continued to struggle against my grip, like a fish on a hook.

"I'm not going to ask you if you know why I'm here," I continued in a dangerous voice, "because I'm sure that even someone of your limited intelligence could work it out."

He gurgled and I released the pressure of my hand slightly. It wouldn't do to accidentally choke him to death.

"Tell me, what is the corsage belonging to a missing girl doing in your room, David?" I waved the flowers in front of his face and watched his eyes widen in understanding. "This belongs to Rosalie Hale if I'm not mistaken. I wonder what the police would say if they found it here."

Tiring of holding him upright, I tossed him across the room to land heavily on his bed. He immediately tried to scramble upright but I held him in place, paralysed with fear.

"See, the problem I have, David, is that not only did I see what you did to Rosalie, raping her, beating her to death, leaving her choking on her own blood..." His face was getting more and more ashen as I detailed Rosalie's injuries. "...but a part of me knows that she wasn't your only target that night." A strangled sound fell from his lips and I momentarily loosened my grasp on his emotions. "Do you have anything to say about that?"

Obviously feeling belligerent, the stupid boy started running his mouth.

"Just you wait, I'm going to have you and your whole fucking family arrested for this. Your precious little sister's not going to know what's hit her...the stupid bitch deserves everything she gets, slutty little cocktease, just like the other one..."

I saw red.

Unleashing the full force of my gift, I sent him writhing in agony, his mouth open in a silent scream. Pulling my reach back abruptly, he collapsed shivering onto the bed again.

"You were saying?"

He didn't answer me. His breathing sounded loud and harsh in the still of the dawn and I allowed him a minute for the jolt to his body to subside before I ramped up the fear and pain again. Someone in the next room was beginning to toss and turn, evidently coming out of deep sleep, so I knew I needed to be quick and get out of there before they fully awoke.

I could feel David's nerves quivering in rebellion as jolts of electricity shot through them at my instigation. His adrenaline level began to soar into overdrive as his body began to struggle with the sheer force of the power I was throwing at him, the pace of his heart quickening to a mouth-watering level.

I pushed down my thirst, relegating it to the back of my mind as David's body began to spasm uncontrollably. His eyes were unnaturally wide and bulging, his hands were curled up into claws and a low whine was droning through his body.

And then...

...nothing.

The room seemed to echo with unnatural quietness now that there was no heartbeat pumping sound through it. David's face was frozen in a look of fear that left me somewhat satisfied. It seemed only right and just to me that these boys feel the same pain and fear as Rosalie had.

The restless sleeper next door suddenly woke up; I felt the flare in their emotions as they became conscious.

I needed to get out of there.

Running silently down the stairs, I jumped out the window, making it a mile away from the house before I heard the scream.

My work had been discovered.

Running faster, I sprinted into the forests that surrounded our home and drained three deer before I felt able to return to the house and Bella.

I was met at the door by Carlisle.

"You're back."

I stared impassively back at him, noting Esme and Bella hovering just behind him in the living room. "I am. Bella sounded like she needed the company when she last called and I wasn't doing much good up in Denali anyway."

"Bella needed company?" Carlisle scoffed. "So your reappearance had nothing to do with the phone call I've just gotten from the hospital?"

I cocked my head to one side in question but remained silent.

Carlisle's eyes showed how much he wanted to tear into me at that moment, but his voice remained calm when he spoke, addressing Bella over my shoulder. "Why don't you try and get some sleep now, sweetheart, while I talk to Jasper. You can catch up with him later on once you've had some rest."

"You haven't been sleeping?" I looked carefully at my little sister for the first time that day. "You need to rest, Bella." I hesitated before speaking again. "You don't have to worry anymore, Bells. Run up to bed and I'll come up and see you once I've had a chance to speak to Carlisle and Esme."

Bella's face showed her trepidation, but I couldn't help but notice the flash of relief when I told her that she didn't have to worry. Silently, she slipped past Esme, squeezing my adoptive mother's hand briefly, before running up the stairs. I didn't look away from the direction she had gone until I heard her door close behind her.

The second the latch clicked, I pushed past Carlisle, flopping into an armchair and reclining back, my posture relaxed. Despite my non-aggressive pose, Carlisle saw it almost as a challenge to his authority.

"What the hell have you done, Jasper?"

I blinked slowly. "What did the hospital say?"

My question obviously took him aback and he ground his teeth together for several seconds before relaxing and moving over to the couch opposite my seat.

"David Perry was found dead at his house this morning. It currently looks like he died of acute cardiac and respiratory failure, but they want tests run to check if there are any narcotics in his system. I'm going in later on to help the pathologist."

Carlisle sighed and ran his hand tiredly over his forehead. "He's not the only one either. Several other boys have also been found dead of the same condition. The hospital thinks it's some kind of new party drug making the rounds – six boys all dead of the same thing in one night." He leaned forward. "What were you thinking, Jasper?"

I didn't answer, instead I tossed the corsage I had kept onto the coffee table. Both Carlisle and Esme inhaled sharply, Esme's hand coming up to cover her mouth. She looked like she was about to be sick.

"Oh, Jasper. Where did you get that?"

"From David Perry's room."

Carlisle looked up sharply at me. "He had taken this?"

I nodded. "Ripped it right off her wrist from what I can tell."

Esme moved over and sat next to Carlisle. "So he definitely was involved then."

It wasn't a question, but I answered her anyway. "Was there ever any doubt over that?"

She fidgeted slightly. "Well, no, but I had hoped, especially considering Bella..."

"Bella is the reason that I'm back," I interrupted her. "Did she tell you that they threatened her?"

Both parents were alert and on the edge of their seats now.

"When did this happen?" I wasn't surprised to hear the hint of a growl in Carlisle's voice.

"Yesterday. Apparently they cornered her when she was shopping and made it clear that she would be next. She called me in a panic so I came down straight away and sorted it out."

Carlisle was torn between anger at the boys and worry for Bella.

"Why didn't she come and tell us?" Esme's eyes were shiny with unshed tears. "She was quieter when she got back home yesterday but she told us there was nothing to worry about."

I sighed. "She probably just didn't want to worry you."

"We could've protected her..."

"Could you?" I didn't mean to sound harsh, but I couldn't help it. "You couldn't kill anybody willingly, either of you, no matter how much you love Bella. It's just not in either of your natures, and you couldn't keep an eye on Bella every second of the day either. Sooner or later things were going to come to a head."

"But..."

"Do you want her to end up like Rosalie? Do you want to be hunting one day and this time it's Bella's body you come across, battered and broken, her life just fading away? Because that was the only other way this was going to end. I did what I had to do and I did it so that you wouldn't have to."

There was a long pause.

Carlisle finally let out a deep breath. "We would've done everything to protect her," he said quietly.

My own voice had lost its edge of anger as well; both he and Esme just seemed so broken from their inability to protect Bella.

"Everything but stop them...permanently. You don't kill humans, Carlisle, and neither do you, Esme. It's just not within either of you to take another person's life, at least not without great regret. You would do everything you could to stop them but it wouldn't be enough. That..." I gestured towards the corsage, "...could have been Bella's. A part of me believes that it was meant to be Bella's. But even if it wasn't, and even if she hadn't been targeted it would be some other girl in danger, and no-one deserves what those animals did to Rosalie. No-one."

"But you..." Esme hesitated. "Did you...?"

She didn't have to finish the question for me to know what she was about to ask.

"No. I didn't feed off them. I would dread to think what it would've done for my control over my bloodlust if I had. Apart from David, I didn't even lay a hand on them."

Carlisle swallowed heavily. "We should have..."

"It would have cost you too much, Carlisle. You and Esme both. Neither of you have it within you to take life without consequences."

"But you do?" He held my eyes with his own. "You really think so little of yourself to risk your mental health? You despise killing, Jasper; it's the reason why you left the South in the first place, why you joined with our family."

I lifted my chin in defiance of his words. "I don't want to kill, it's true. But neither do I want to put my family at risk by not killing either." Taking a deep breath, I softened by voice to be less confrontational. "My conscience is at ease, Carlisle. I know that what I did was justified. If either of you had been forced to take action it would have haunted you forever. I have no such problems. It doesn't mean that I'm going to begin killing randomly again; I would never disrespect either of you to do that..."

"But you don't regret it," Esme finished for me.

"I don't regret it," I confirmed.

There was nothing more to say.

I knew that Carlisle and Esme didn't approve of the violence I had indulged in, but I knew that given time they would see the necessity for my actions. I had murdered those boys so that they wouldn't have to. Six lives that deserved to be taken was nothing compared to the thousands of people I'd killed that hadn't deserved to die. I was already damned regardless of what I did now, and I was just glad that it wasn't either of my adoptive parents forced to take on that burden.

Standing up, I stretched out. "I'm going to go and check on Bella and then take a shower. I don't think I'll be going back to Denali." I made it halfway up the stairs before Carlisle stopped me.

"What about Royce King?"

I froze. "What about him?"

He came to stand beneath me. "I did notice that his name wasn't present on the list of the dead that the coroner gave me."

I thought carefully about how I wanted to word this. "He wasn't mine to kill."

"You mean you left him for Rosalie to kill?" Esme asked, clearly shocked.

"It's all she talks about when the bloodlust isn't consuming her thoughts."

Carlisle frowned. "Do you really think it's healthy for her to be thinking of killing?"

I couldn't help the cool tone in my voice when I next spoke. "He's her murderer. As far as I'm concerned she's entitled to pull his entrails out through his throat if that's what she chooses to do."

Turning my back on him, I jogged the rest of the way to Bella's room and knocked on the door before entering. She was still awake, like I'd expected, curled up in a small ball under the covers on her bed. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, I ran my hand over the top of her head, sending waves of comfort towards her as I did.

"You're back," she murmured.

"I promised you I would be."

"I was so scared," she confessed in a tiny voice.

Responding to the fear I could feel, I toed off my shoes and lay down next to her, gathering her and all her quilts to my chest. "I promise I'll always look after you. You're safe from harm now; I'll always protect you."

She sighed quietly and bit by bit I felt the tension in her body drain away.

"Do you think you can go to sleep now for a bit?" I asked her.

Bella nodded and snuffled down further into her covers. "Don't leave me," she whispered.

I hugged her tighter. "Never," I vowed.

As she gradually fell asleep, I swore that I would do whatever I had to to keep that promise.


	19. As The Clock Ticks On

**You may think that your eyes have deceived you but after a bit of a break here is the newest chapter. Apologies to everyone who's waited for this and thank you so much for continuing to read this very slow moving story. I'm hoping to finish this in the next couple of months (providing I can get my skates on), so with any luck, updates might not take as long... I've said that before though, so I make no guarantees.**

**Anyway, thank you to the amazing Alverdine for her encouragement, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter. As always, I don't own Twilight.**

**As the Clock Ticks On**

**EsmePOV**

There was nothing more to say about the deaths of those boys after that first confrontation.

Jasper had made his decisions and we would just have to minimise any damage caused. Luckily, Carlisle and the pathologist at the hospital couldn't find any other cause of death other than sudden cardiac arrest so the assumption was made that the boys had experimented with some kind of party drug and that experiment had gone horribly wrong.

I was so relieved when that official verdict finally came in. I had been so worried about what would happen to both Jasper and Bella if the truth came out. Both of them had already suffered enough.

The small selfish part of me was also grateful to Jasper for what he had done.

I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to Bella, especially anything similar to what Rosalie had suffered. At the same time though, after changing Rosalie, I didn't think I could bear taking another life.

Jasper had been right. Neither Carlisle nor I were cut out for that kind of retribution. It just pained me that he still thought that he was.

He was back for now anyway, and I was pleased to see that Bella was the better for it.

She had retreated back into her shell after Rosalie's attack and the boys' departure, so it was nice to see her get back to her normal self. Jasper's presence helped with that a great deal and although I never witnessed it, I was sure that he was using his gift to help her deal with the stress caused. I could only pray that she didn't have another emotional setback given the mirroring brutality between what happened to Rosalie and the deaths of her parents.

I had to confess though, that I was also a little jealous of the bond between the two of them.

Before that fateful night, Bella and I had been working quite comfortably towards a warm bond with each other, something I had been ecstatic about given her initial reluctance to have anything to do with me. Biting Rosalie – something I regretted every minute of every day – had set our relationship back again, and I wondered if I would ever have the opportunity of developing a close maternal connection with her.

She wasn't flinching at my presence anymore, but at the same time, she didn't welcome my embraces as warmly either. I felt that our relationship had taken two steps back and Bella's growing reliance on Jasper only served to emphasize the growing gap between us.

Carlisle and I could offer advice and support to Bella, but she would look to Jasper first, almost for approval, before she would accept it.

The only thing I could do now was give her time. I had plenty of it in any case.

I had to remain positive though, that eventually I would rebuild my relationship with my surrogate daughter again. After all, when she first came to our house she wouldn't even stay in the same room as me, she was that terrified, so there was hope that on this occasion I would be forgiven eventually.

Her nightmares were back, though, and this time they seemed to be intermingling – visions of the battered Rosalie mixing in Bella's mind with the images of her parents' attack. I knew I shouldn't be grateful, but on those occasions when Jasper wasn't available, it made me happy to get to be the one to go to her and soothe her down from the terrors in her mind.

In order to keep up appearances, we stayed on our own property for the rest of the summer, only venturing into town when necessary to pick up supplies or for Carlisle to go to work. Jasper found it the hardest, I think, given that he was used to doing whatever he wanted and was now forced to hide away from prying eyes.

When the new school year came, he was finally allowed back into civilisation, and despite his complaints of humans being boring and predictable, I think he rather enjoyed their company and their emotional fluctuations.

The official story we gave the town to explain Emmett and Edward's absence was that we were only their temporary foster parents and they had both left to reside with their birth mother again. Luckily, we were a well respected family, especially given Carlisle's almost deity-like status at the hospital, and so no-one questioned us any further on the matter.

I think we all breathed a sigh of relief once that story had been accepted so easily.

I was concerned about what would happen when Bella went to school though.

Although the town had mourned the deaths of the boys that Jasper had taken care of during the summer, the gossip surrounding the disappearance of Rosalie and the departure of her family was still alive and flourishing. Every day I heard new theories as to how she might have vanished and what ghastly fate had awaited her.

I believe that people subconsciously knew that Royce King and his gang were responsible, but Bella had been Vera's closest friend here and so I would worried that the other students would try and draw her out about what had happened that night and what the police knew.

I also vividly remembered how upset she had been after her first day of school with the boys and hoped that the horrible gossip surrounding our family had died down by now.

Luckily, it turned out my fears were unfounded.

Bella bounced into the kitchen after her first day of classes with a grin on her face, followed more subduedly by Jasper.

"So?" I prompted. "How did it go?"

Grabbing a can of soda, she spun around to face me. "It was great." Her smile dropped a little. "I mean, everyone wanted to know about what Vera said about Rosalie before she left, and they're all talking about the drugs that killed Da..." she cut off his name to swallow a large gulp of her drink. "But, it was so awesome because Royce King is totally terrified of Jasper." Her smile came back full force.

"He is?" I wasn't sure that this was a good thing or not.

"Uh huh." She frowned suddenly. "I don't know if he knows, you know, what really happened, but when he saw us walking down the hallway this morning he ran away pretty quickly."

Jasper put a hand on her shoulder and she smiled up at him.

"I guess he realises now that he isn't going to get anywhere near me," she mused.

I caught the trembling of her bottom lip – my poor, darling Bella had been through so much – and quickly clapped my hands together, forcing a smile on my face.

"Of course he's not going to, sweetheart. We won't let him anywhere near you ever again. Quite frankly I'm surprised he's back in school with you all in the first place. I would think that after threatening you and attacking Rosalie, he'd want to keep a low profile."

Jasper squeezed Bella's shoulder again and then guided herself towards a barstool.

"I don't think there's a lot of choice, Esme. There's no other school in the area within reasonable driving distance and I doubt his parents can afford to send him away to a private institution."

I wasn't sure whether to feel guilty about that or not. I decided to put it out of my mind for now and change the topic.

"So, what would you like for dinner this evening?"

I sent Bella upstairs to do her homework while I got on with preparing her meal. To my surprise, Jasper remained downstairs with me. At first, he just stayed leaning against the counter in silence, but eventually he spoke.

"You can't feel guilty all the time, you know?"

I shot him a glance over my shoulder, ashamed that I had been so easy to read, so transparent. Not even Carlisle was aware of the depth of the shame I felt and I didn't like that Jasper could see it so clearly.

I concentrated on peeling the potatoes for Bella's meal, dragging my knife over the vegetable at human speed just so I would have something to focus on.

Jasper sighed. "He brought it on himself, Esme. Every consequence that arises from Rosalie's death, from the deaths of his gang and from his threatening Bella – it's all his fault. There is no one else to blame here but King."

I couldn't let him talk like this. It hurt my heart.

"But what I did... what you did to protect our family...?"

"All _his_ fault," he repeated slowly, carefully.

He rubbed a hand over his face and I wondered if Jasper truly felt as nonchalant about all the violence that had surrounded us this summer as he appeared.

I reached out to him, but halted with my hand hovering over his shoulder and then dropping. He caught the movement and tried to smile at me, even though it looked more like a grimace than a grin.

"Shall we go for a hunt this evening?" I tried to change the topic.

Jasper frowned. "You and Carlisle go tonight, have some time to yourselves, and I'll stay here with Bella."

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? You look a little thirsty." I was concerned about the darkening of his eyes.

"I'm sure," he replied. "Bella doesn't like being left alone in the house at the moment so I'll stay with her if you hunt tonight and then go and eat tomorrow or sometime."

Recognising the stubborn look on his face, I just nodded in agreement. There was no point trying to argue with him or persuade him to come with us; he had made up his mind.

"Okay," I finally agreed. "But can you go and fetch Bella down so that she can have her dinner please. She never hears when I call thanks to those awful headphones of hers."

Jasper cracked a smile at that and I felt an ebb of fondness and affection wash over me. Humming happily at the feel of Jasper's contentment, I didn't notice him come up to me until he placed a kiss against the crown of my head.

By the time I turned around he was already halfway up the stairs.

"Remember," his voice drifted down towards me, "no need for guilt. There's enough of it floating around already; there doesn't need to be any more, especially on Royce King's part."

I doubted that I would ever not feel terrible about my part in Rosalie's turning, but Jasper's reassurances softened the shame I felt a little.

We would get through this in time. I knew we would.

**BPOV**

A scream tore from my throat just as I jolted awake, panting heavily, tears stinging at my eyes. I was barely conscious for more than two seconds before Jasper was there, trying to calm me down. He didn't try and touch me, and for that I was grateful. The first couple of times that I'd suffered nightmares following Rosalie's death, he or Carlisle or Esme would gather me in their arms to try to comfort me, and in my half-asleep state I would think that I was back in that awful cabin, cold arms restraining me, biting into my skin and bruising my bones every time I tried to escape. Eventually, my family just learnt that it was better to shake me out of my dreams and then give me space until I had woken up properly.

Jasper's way of dealing with my nightmares was my favourite. He would just sit next to me and send out waves of calm that reduced the terror from my nightmare faster than it normally would've vanished. In those moments I was so grateful that he had his gift.

"Morning," he eventually said.

"Hi." I rubbed my eyes and blinked up blearily at him.

He edged forward cautiously to sit on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

That made me laugh. "You do know that you can probably tell me that better than I can?"

He shrugged but there was a light in his eyes which told me that he was just as amused.

"Well, unlike _some people_," he reached out to tickle my side, making me squeal and wriggle away from him as far as I could, "I don't like to assume."

I struggled to talk through my laughing, taking gasping breaths. "Well aren't you lucky that you can take the moral high ground over me then?"

"Indeed I am." He stopped tormenting me and I tried to detangle my legs from the covers enough to sit up without tipping sideways and crashing into the bedside table.

We sat in silence for a minute, me still fighting with my sheets and him staring out the window thoughtfully. Eventually I noticed that the rest of the house was quiet.

"Where's Carlisle and Esme?" My eyes travelled to the forest that surrounded our home and I peered into the trees as if I would be able to see them hunting.

Jasper returned his eyes to me. "They've gone up to Seattle for the weekend to meet with Carmen and Eleazar."

The two names caught my attention. "Are they the ones who live up in Alaska?"

He nodded. "In Denali. They want to know how Rosalie is getting on, but visiting her before she's ready might push her over the edge. So instead, they're meeting in the middle for a progress report."

I thought about that. Although Rosalie figured a lot in my nightmares, it was as a human. She would twirl around in her prom dress, smiling happily, only for her clothes to tear and cuts and bruises to emerge on her skin as Esme bit into her and Royce King and David pointed and laughed at the stupid, beautiful girl. Even when I thought about her, I only ever remembered her human self and how she had looked that night, rather than the savage monster wearing her face that had tossed my brothers around so easily.

I shook my head, trying to banish the thought of Rosalie's death from my head. If I thought about Rosalie all day then I knew the nightmares would return tonight and I didn't want that.

"I'm surprised you haven't just moved in here already," I commented idly.

Jasper cocked his head, obviously trying to work out what I mean.

"In this room," I clarified. "You're in here all the time anyway."

He laughed. "True. It's just easier to be in here ready for if you sleep badly."

"I'm sorry," I apologised, suddenly serious. "I don't want to put you out."

He shook his head and drew me into a hug. "Don't be sorry. It's no big deal, okay?"

"Okay."

Satisfied by my concession, he grinned and then hoisted me out of the bed, ignoring my squeals of protest. He set me down halfway between my bed and the bathroom, making sure I was steady on my feet before releasing me.

"Go and shower, you smelly human. We've got to go grocery shopping this morning."

I stuck my tongue out at him and skipped towards the bathroom. I had just reached the door when he called out to me.

"If you hurry up then when we get back we can call Emmett and Edward afterwards. The weather forecast is sunny for Denali today so they should be in all day just to avoid any chance meetings with hikers."

I smiled so widely that it nearly hurt. It felt like I hadn't spoken to Emmett for ages so the prospect of a phone call was something to look forward to.

"Really? Great! Give me ten minutes and I'll be ready to go."

I hurried around showering and getting ready and earned myself two stubbed toes for my speed. By the time I made my way downstairs to where Jasper was waiting for me, I was hobbling but happy.

My good mood continued all through our trip into town and we laughed and joked about as we filled the shopping cart with enough food to last the week. We ran into several people from school who smiled hesitantly at us, but didn't stop to talk, and I tried not to let it bother me too much. I had a few friends that I could chat with and sit with in class, but no real close friends like Vera had been. I knew we would be leaving the area as soon as the boys said they were returning, so trying to cling to friendships that would have to be soon abandoned didn't seem worth it really. I consoled myself that if I spent most of my time with Jasper, at least I didn't have to lie to him all the time.

When we got back to the house, I was bouncing up and down on my feet and Jasper took pity on me, pushing me towards the stairs and the phone while he put the rest of the food away.

Grabbing the phone out the cradle, I dialled the familiar number and sat down on the sofa to wait for a reply.

"Hello?"

The female voice answering Emmett's cell threw me for a second.

"Err, hi. Is...is Emmett there, please?" I cursed myself under my breath even as I spoke. I sounded so young and stupid even to myself.

The voice on the other end giggled. "Sure, let me just get him for you."

I waited, and waited. Whatever Emmett was up to, he was taking a long time getting to the phone.

Eventually, I heard his voice down the line. "Baby Bells!"

"Hi Emmett." I was already grinning just from talking to him. "How are you?"

"I'm great. The hunting up here is amazing; there's loads of bears around at the moment and you know I like a challenge."

I hummed noncommittally at that. While I was glad that he was having fun, the thought of hunting and all that blood still made me wince.

"How about you? How's school going? Is Jasper keeping all those punks away from you – you know you're too good for any of them, right?"

I wrinkled my nose at his overprotective behaviour.

"School is fine," I answered. "It's fairly boring, but my GPA is ridiculously high thanks to everyone's help. And Jasper doesn't need to scare any boys away; they all avoid me anyway."

"Why?" He sounded confused.

I rolled my eyes at his obliviousness. "Ummm, 'cos the last time someone asked me out, they ended up dead."

There was silence for a second down the line. I didn't think that Emmett had expected me to address the situation so bluntly, but I had made my peace with Jasper's actions and David's fate. It was a horrible thing to happen, but one where the practical side of me won out over my more emotional side.

"Too right they did, Bells." Emmett had clearly decided to take his cues from me. "They know the second they try anything, we're going to come down hard on them." He seemed to relish the idea.

I tried to rein him in. "Well, there's no-one, so you can leave the ass kicking to others for now."

"Awwwww," he whined in protest. "You don't let me have any fun."

I laughed and was about to reply when an ear-splitting crash rang out down the line.

"Emmett? _Emmett?!_" I yelled.

The phone at his end had clearly been set down and I heard him shout loudly to give him a second. A terrible screeching cry made me automatically flinch back and I only put the receiver back to my ear when the wailing cut off abruptly.

There was a lot of shouting going on in the background.

"...she just started freaking out about..."

"Well, it's not my fault I'm so irresistible..."

"...got to stop! It can't keep on like this."

"Can't you just zap her...?"

I recognised one of the other voices as belonging to the female who had first answer Emmett's cell, but the other female voice was unfamiliar.

Evidently hearing the conflict happening on the other end of the line, Jasper came out of the kitchen and raised an eyebrow questioningly. I just shook my head at him, not understanding what was happening up in Alaska.

There was another loud crash and then Emmett briefly picked up the phone again.

"Got to go, Bells. Talk to you later."

I was left sitting there listening to the buzzing of a dial tone where he had cut me off. I stayed still, frozen on the sofa for a minute.

"I guess he had to go," I told Jasper, finally lowering my arm down to my lap. I don't think that I hid the disappointment in my voice very well.

Jasper tilted his head thoughtfully. "You know it won't be like this forever, right? Eventually Rosalie will gain some more control over her temper and then Emmett will have more time to speak with you."

"I know." I smiled, but he didn't look convinced by my attempt to seem happy with my brother hanging up on me.

"Okay." He eventually decided that it wasn't worth fighting about. "Well, I'm going upstairs for a bit. Let me know if you want to watch a movie later or something."

"No problem," I reassured him.

I let my smile drop when he had left the room.

This wasn't the first time that Emmett had hung up on me mid-call and even though I knew he was just trying to help with Rosalie, it still hurt that he couldn't even get the time for a ten minute conversation with me.

I hardly talked to Edward much either, although that wasn't as discouraging, given that our short conversations were often very stilted.

I just felt like Emmett and I were drifting apart and I hated it. I wanted my big brother back, but I knew that wasn't likely until Rosalie was safe to be around humans again, whenever that might be.

For now though, I would just have to sit and wait and carry on like usual.

And hope that time passed quickly.


	20. Growing Up

**So here's the next chapter and approximately 6 months earlier than I usually would've posted it, so I've speeded up just a little. Anyway, thanks so much for the great reaction I got to the last chapter and for all your continued support and reading. I hope you like this chapter and cheers for sticking with me.**

**I don't own Twilight. Although you might have noticed that already.**

**Growing Up**

**CPOV**

Bella's fifteenth birthday had been celebrated quietly among the family – well, relatively quietly given that Emmett came down to visit for the day and managed to make enough noise for all of us - and her sixteenth now loomed. We had asked if she wanted a party to mark the occasion, but she declined, stating that she preferred our company to that of her fellow students and would prefer another family occasion, this time with just Esme, Jasper and I in attendance.

While I was happy enough to arrange this according to her wishes, I couldn't help but notice how my adopted daughter was slowly becoming less and less involved in human activities and was drawing closer to our vampiric family, and Jasper in particular.

While I knew that Esme was delighted at having regained Bella's trust over time and doted on the girl, I couldn't help but worry that she was becoming too cut off from the normal world. I appreciated the harmony that currently resided amongst our family, but I was concerned that our presence was hindering Bella's development.

I understood that she had retreated back towards us, and Jasper in particular, when Rosalie was attacked, as the strain of lying to Vera and her other friends took its toll, but in the last eighteenth months there had been no sign that she was willing to step out of her shell a little more and interact with her contemporaries.

It bothered me a lot that our condition had essentially withdrawn her from the world she should be living in, although I was at a loss as to how I could possibly rectify the problem.

Forcing Bella out of her comfort zone, especially when she had already experienced so much upheaval in her short life, was something that I felt very uneasy about doing. Maybe I could suggest that she attend the school's prom this year or encourage her to get involved in a club or afternoon activity? Although I could already foresee difficulties in getting her to agree to either option. I would have to get Jasper onside for her to even consider it.

But then that led to another concern of mine.

Jasper.

Or specifically, Jasper and Bella.

Sighing in frustration, I leaned an elbow on my desk and rubbed my forehead with my hand.

I loved my newest son. He truly was a good man who had escaped the violent circumstances which had brought him into this world and changed as his conscience dictated him to. I had nothing but admiration for the way in which he had taken to our 'vegetarian' lifestyle.

But his intimacy with Bella was something that I hadn't expected from him and I was unsure how to feel about it.

About midway through the school year, he had moved permanently into Bella's bedroom. I knew that he had done so at Bella's request in response to her nightmares, and indeed, they had certainly occurred less frequently now that he was permanently embedded in her room to stop them, but there was something very disconcerting to watch my fifteen-year-old daughter say goodnight and go to bed, only to be followed into her room seconds later by her older brother.

They both seemed happy with the situation, but it made me uneasy, especially when I factored in Bella's dependence on Jasper for both company and direction as well.

I hated to confront him, especially given his reaction the last time I had questioned his dominant relationship with her. He had gotten quite upset then, and I was loathe to distress him any further, but at the same time, this was my coven and I was responsible for Bella and I had to put my foot down if I was concerned about either of their well-beings.

There was nothing for it. I needed to speak with him.

Packing up my briefcase, I waved goodbye to the nursing team on the front desk and headed home. When I got back to the house, it was empty, Bella's heartbeat absent and none of the other little shifts of the air which indicated that Esme or Jasper where in either.

Grateful for the temporary reprieve, I took a shower to wash the grime of the hospital off my body and then redressed and strolled down to the living room, the latest AMA journal in my hands. I had only just settled down when the kitchen door swung open and soft footsteps padded into the house.

"Jasper?"

He appeared at the living room entrance, the back of his hand wiping his mouth clean.

"Just back from hunting?" It was obvious that he had been, but a bit of polite conversation had never hurt anyone.

He nodded.

"And the girls?" I asked.

"Esme took Bella shopping for some new shoes. She tore the sole of hers off at school earlier on," he explained.

I nodded and then immediately calculated the time it would take for both of them to get to the mall and back again. More than enough time for me to speak with Jasper in private.

He turned towards the stairs but I stopped him before he could leave.

"Jasper, may I speak with you for a moment?"

A burst of curiosity swept from his direction and he nodded slowly. "Sure." He took a seat opposite me and I struggled to know how to begin this awkward conversation. He evidently felt my unease because he shook his head at me. "Whatever it is, just say it Carlisle. It can't be that bad."

I took him at his word.

"I wanted to talk with you about Bella."

He blinked. "Okay."

"You do a wonderful job with looking after her and watching over her at school, but I'm afraid I have some concerns over the pair of you sharing a bedroom. Do you think that that's something which will have be permanent or will it just be temporary until her nightmares have fully subsided?"

I was expecting the sudden burst of anger that hit me. I was expecting it.

Jasper's jaw clenched. "What exactly are you inferring, Carlisle?"

"I'm not inferring anything, merely asking what your intentions are concerning your current sleeping conditions."

The fury in the room was blistering and I had to fight back the urge to clench my fists and rise into a defensive crouch. Instead I swallowed carefully and stretched my fingers out. I needed to seem relaxed. Any hint of aggression and Jasper would be stretched to the limits of his tolerance.

"Bella asked me to move into her room. My presence helps her sleep. I didn't suggest it and I didn't manipulate her into making that offer," he bit out.

"I didn't suggest you did."

"No, but you implied it." He cocked his head, his eyes boring into mine. "Tell me, Carlisle," he began, his voice deceptively calm, "exactly what do you think is going to happen between Bella and I?"

I blinked slowly, giving myself time to think. He waited silently for my reply, his body falling into the unnatural stillness that marked us out as being inhuman.

I finally replied. "What I think is that you and I were both born in a different time where different attitudes towards women and age existed. You know as well as I do that the state in which we were changed affects our outlook even now. But in these times, Bella is still a child and I just want reassurance that that won't be forgotten."

There. I had been as explicit as I needed to be and from the look on Jasper's face he understood what I was saying. Instead of getting angrier, however, he seemed to fold in on himself, his aggression seemingly melting away.

"I _know_ she's just a child, Carlisle. Do you think I don't understand that?" He shook his head. "It's not like that between us. We share a room because she's more comfortable having me in there. That's it. There's nothing seedy or secretive about it and I'm not going to start treating her like an adult before her time."

I was pleased with how reasonable he was being about my concerns.

"But," he said. My shoulders hunched once more. "I might have to remind you that Bella's growing up faster than you might think." He shrugged. "I'm not saying this for me; I'm saying it for her. Don't stifle her, Carlisle, especially when she's just starting to come into her own. You know how delicate it is dealing with humans."

I conceded him the point. "I do realise that. But I also know that sometimes you interact with Bella as if she's also a vampire. She's not. She doesn't live by the same rules as us. And my concern is that she will grow up too dependent on you, not as a friend or a brother, but as a coven leader."

A spike of annoyance shot in my direction.

Jasper rose stiffly to his feet. It was plainly apparent that he wanted nothing more than to be done with this conversation.

"What do you suggest then?" It was asked through gritted teeth.

I remained seated. I wanted to get my point across but not make him feel like I was challenging him.

"I suggest that you perhaps be a little more careful in your dealings with Bella. Don't push her away, but try to bear in mind the disparity between you both."

Jasper stared at me for a full minute. I held my gaze. He had to know that I was serious about this, that I wasn't just saying this for caution's sake but that I meant it and as a member of my family he would have to obey it.

He dropped his eyes first. Muttering under his breath about taking a shower to wash the scent of the hunt off him, he walked as far as the stairs but then stopped.

"Carlisle, just one question."

I rose from my chair and turned around to face him again.

"What happens when Bella decides that she wants that kind of intimacy in her life?"

My back teeth ground together at the thought of some random boy slathering over my daughter.

Jasper smirked, evidently sensing the conflicting emotions I was throwing off.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

**JPOV**

"I hope we get out of here soon."

I turned my head to look at Bella where she was lying next to me in our backyard. Fall and winter had passed swiftly by, along with her sixteenth birthday, and Spring had finally sprung in the last weekend. Grateful that the sun was actually shining for once, Bella had forced me out into Esme's garden where we were supposed to be relaxing and sunbathing.

In reality, Bella was relaxing, while I read _Dombey and Son_ to her and we both tried to pretend that the reason she needed sunglasses was due to the weak sun and not the glare of my skin as it glittered in the light.

Her words though made me stop reading and focus on her. She seemed excited, although there was just a hint of nervous energy tainted that excitement and setting me on edge.

"What do you mean?" I finally asked.

Bella shrugged. "Just that I'll be glad when we finally move on and can get out of here," she explained. "It'll be nice to be somewhere where I can make new memories, happy ones."

She was lying to me about something, but it didn't seem too important to call her out on it so I just nodded.

She rushed to explain more.

"There'll be a new house, one where I didn't go into a weird coma and Rosalie didn't die, and there'll be a new school with new people and I might be able to make some new friends, like I did when I first came here and I spent all my time hanging out with Vera."

I hummed in agreement.

"And because no-one knows anything about me or about what happened with Rosalie and David and Royce, maybe they won't be so reluctant to approach me."

I almost made another sound of agreement, but something about the way that she had said that last bit caught my attention. I sat upright and stared down at her.

Bella squirmed uncomfortably beneath my attention. "What?" she finally asked.

"People won't be reluctant to approach you or _boys_ won't be reluctant to approach you?"

She huffed in protest, but her cheeks reddened slightly, giving her away.

This was a dilemma I had never come across before. Even when David had taken Bella out, I had known that it wouldn't have gone anywhere even if he hadn't turned out to be a murderous bastard. Bella had only agreed to go to the Prom with him to wind up Emmett for being overprotective. That she was now considering looking for a boyfriend was something new.

"Do you want some of these new boys to approach you?" I asked curiously.

"No!" she immediately refuted.

I raised a disbelieving eyebrow at her and threw her arms over her face.

"Maybe," she eventually confessed. "I don't know. I don't want them to be falling all over me just to get in my pants or something. But it certainly would be nice to not have them turn and run in the opposite direction for once."

I grunted and lay back down next to her, propping my upper body up on my elbows.

"It would also be nice," she continued, "if you didn't scare all the boys away from me all the time as well. You're nearly as bad as Emmett was."

I tried to look innocent, something I was certain I had never been. "I don't know what you're talking about, Bells."

"Sure, you don't." I didn't need my gift to feel the sarcasm in that remark.

I felt like I should offer some kind of apology.

"I'm just trying to look out for you, Bella. Even though I realise I can be a little overbearing at times."

Bella sat up and crossed her legs underneath her. "That's not true."

I gave her a look.

She grinned at me. "Okay, maybe it's a bit true."

I snorted. "Yeah, you're not the only one who thinks so."

She tilted her head to one side, her fingers unconsciously picking at blades of grass in front of her. "Who else has said that?" she asked.

I winced. I hadn't meant to blurt that out. I had always told Bella the truth though and I wasn't about to change that now.

"Carlisle. He was worried last year that I had too much bearing on your life after I moved into your room."

Bella looked confused. "But, what does you moving into my room have to do with anything?"

"He was concerned that I had coerced you into inviting me in so I could have my wicked way with you."

"What!" She was utterly astonished. "We... you..." She clapped her hands over her ears and shook her head, like a child who had just heard something unpleasant. "We're not like that," she finally managed to get out.

"I know that," I reassured her. "And you know that and so does he. He doesn't mean anything by it; he's just worried about you, that's all."

Bella still seemed appalled by the idea. "But he seriously thought that you and I...?" She couldn't finish the sentence.

I chuckled. "What's the matter, Bells? Don't you find me attractive?"

"Urgh." She stuck her tongue out at me. "Don't even go there."

We both laughed.

"I just think he thought that I made too many decisions for you."

Bella raised her chin. "Well, I don't think you do."

"I'm glad then," I answered her. "But if you want me to take a step back wherever we end up next then let me know and I'll try not to be so intimidating."

I don't think either of us believed me when I said that.

In any case, Bella got her wish not two weeks later, when Carlisle and Esme announced that we would be moving on at the end of the school year.

"We just think that it's been enough time between the incident and now for people to suspect any involvement on our parts, plus it might be nice for you to have at least two full years in the same school rather than moving you in your senior year. Moving in the summer will give us all time to settle in before we're expected to make ourselves known in public."

Bella, sat next to Esme, looked excited by this decision. From the expression on Carlisle's face, I was inclined to be more wary.

"All of us?" I questioned.

Carlisle understood my meaning.

"Emmett and Edward think, and Carmen, Eleazar and the sisters agree, that Rosalie has improved greatly over the last year and a half. They feel that she is ready to begin integrating into human society again. Apparently her sense of self-control is really quite remarkable. This move brings about an opportunity to pull all of our family back together again in one place, and I'm inclined to believe their assessment of the situation."

Rosalie was joining us.

I had to say that I was a little surprised. From her reactions to men when I had still been living up in Denali, I would've thought that she would be more inclined to stay with the Alaskan coven and the sisters, but then maybe Emmett's influence was the reason why she would be staying with us. Although they hadn't been especially close the last time I had seen them, his affable nature and inability to be easily provoked would be a good foil for her hostility.

I had other questions though. "She wouldn't be a risk to Bella?"

My sister flinched at that, as if she hadn't actually considered that Rosalie coming back was a potential threat to her.

"I don't believe so." Carlisle crossed the room to sit in his armchair. Mirroring his position, I perched on the other side of Bella on the couch. "She's never tasted human blood, never slipped up or had any accidents. According to Eleazar, she's almost repelled by the idea of feeding from humans, and they've tested her several times by taking her into the towns nearby to assess her reactions. From all accounts, she is safe to be around."

There was a sudden burst of anxiety from Carlisle when he finished talking and from the look on his face, I wanted to know what he had just thought. He wouldn't have felt that troubled for nothing, and I believed that he meant what he said when he spoke about Rosalie.

Whatever it was, I wanted to know, but now wasn't the time.

"So where are we going then?" I asked.

Carlisle and Esme exchanged a glance.

"We thought that we could re-open the house in Forks again," Esme answered. She turned to Bella. "Hopefully you'll like it there, sweetheart. It's in Washington, about four hours from Seattle, but it's a small town just like here and fairly rural and forested. The school isn't that big and it's a friendly community. We hope you'll both be settled there."

Bella looked at me curiously. "Have you never been there before, Jasper?"

"No," I replied. "Emmett has, but I joined the family once they had left Washington and moved across the country to Whitecourt in Canada."

"Huh. We can explore it together then."

"If you like." I humoured her. I turned my attention back to Carlisle. "When will we be moving?"

"A week, maybe two, after the semester finishes. We can use the next month to pack up and get everything in order to move again."

I nodded. The decision had been made and I wasn't going to argue about it. I did stay sitting when Bella and Esme got up and moved upstairs, the two women chattering about everything that Washington had to offer.

"Is something on your mind, Jasper?" Carlisle asked when they were finally out of earshot.

I considered him before speaking.

"You got very nervous when you were telling us that Rosalie posed no risk to Bella, but I don't believe you were lying when you told us about her self-control."

He swallowed heavily, an air of resignation falling upon his shoulders.

"So what's really the problem there?"

Carlisle rubbed a hand tiredly across her forehead.

"You're right," he finally confessed. "I'm less worried about Rosalie being in close proximity to Bella than I am about Edward."

"Edward?"

Now that did surprise me.

"What about Edward?"

Carlisle sighed. Then he told me about the night that Rosalie died and how he found Edward and Bella in the forest.

My hands clenched.

Family or not, Edward and I were going to have words.


	21. Starting Over

**Here's the latest chapter for you all. I hope you like it and as always, thanks for sticking with me. I really appreciate it.**

**I don't own Twilight. This should come as a surprise to no-one.**

**Starting Over**

**BPOV**

True to Carlisle's word, we moved to Forks the day after school finished.

I tried to help with packing up the house, but it ended up being just easier if I sat on the bed out of the way while the rest of my family blurred around me. I think packing up all of our belongings into the removal truck took a grand total of sixty minutes.

I rode with Jasper on the drive into Washington and he pointed out all the landmarks to me that I had missed when I was comatose on the way down. It felt strange to think that it had been three years since I had left Alaska and I felt a pang of sadness at the memory of my parents. I loved the Cullens, but in another life I would've wished that I never met them.

A forced cheerfulness washed over me and I shot Jasper a glare.

He grinned in response. "Just keeping you on your toes, Bells."

I stuck my tongue out at him and turned to stare out the window at the passing scenery.

"You know, when we get to Forks, we're going to have to get you a license, Bells, so you're not stuck in the middle of nowhere with us all the time."

He had my attention now.

"A license? Like, a driving license?"

"Well, yeah." He scratched his neck. "I mean, we can all travel to school together and what not, but you're getting old enough now that you might want to go out somewhere without your brothers tagging along."

I frowned. "Are you saying that you might cramp my style, Jasper?"

He gave me a sidelong glance before turning him attention back to the road. "What I'm saying is that over the last two years you've gotten used to it being just you, me, Esme and Carlisle," he explained. "Living in a house with four people is a lot different from living in a house with seven people, especially when six of them are vampires. You might want some privacy from time to time and that means being able to leave the house and go where you want by yourself occasionally. We all know Emmett's a terrible eavesdropper and gossip, and Edward isn't much better, although he pretends to be; trust me, you're going to want to run away from them at some point and that means being able to _drive_ away from them."

Well, I wasn't going to argue with that. And it would be nice to be able to go to the store or the library by myself without having to wait for a family member to be around to drive me. Plus, if our last house was anything to go by, I very much doubted that this one would be any closer to town.

"Are you going to teach me?" I finally asked.

"Sure," he agreed easily. "Although Carlisle has requested a few lessons with you before you take the test to make sure you're roadworthy."

I shook my head at my adopted father's concern, but I knew he was only looking out for me.

Before long, we passed a road sign for Forks and the car slowed down significantly. When I looked at Jasper curiously, he smiled.

"There's a patrol car up ahead monitoring the speed of passing vehicles," he said. "I don't want to get a ticket on our first day here."

Once we made it safely past the patrol car, Jasper speeded up again to catch up with the truck that Carlisle was driving. Esme was somewhere behind us in Carlisle's Mercedes.

I didn't even see the track leading towards our new house until Jasper turned into it and before I knew it, we were pulling up in front of a huge house that looked like it was made entirely from glass and was surrounded by a meadow.

Jasper caught my awestruck emotions.

"Pretty impressive, huh?" He nudged me and then got out of the car, crossing over to help Carlisle start unpacking.

I climbed out of the passenger seat more slowly and walked up to the open door, quickly moving to one side as Carlisle stepped past me, into the hall, depositing five suitcases on the floor.

"Go ahead and take a look around, Bella," he offered. "You can have first pick of the bedrooms if you like?"

"But won't you guys want to stay in the same rooms that you had the last time you were here?" I asked as he shot back to the truck and then returned with a Persian rug under one arm and a box in the other.

"No," he blithely reassured me. "There are more of us living here this time around, so things will have to change anyway."

I wandered round the rooms as my family flitted around me, taking it all in.

There was a large, white living room with a raised section in one corner, a piano on top. Presumably that was Edward's since I didn't think anyone else in the family played. The living room led through to a galley kitchen and a utility room with screen doors opening out onto a wide deck and the back of the property. I peeked into a couple of random doors in the hall, but found only cupboards and a downstairs bathroom – not especially interesting.

It was when I got upstairs that I realised just how big this house was. I mean, the downstairs was huge, but the upstairs spread out over the top of the garages so each of the six bedrooms, and their adjoining en-suites, didn't lack for space. Two of them – one of which I was sure had belonged to Esme and Carlisle one time – even had separate walk-in closets as well.

Abandoning the second floor, I wound my way up another set of stairs to find two other bedrooms which had been built up into the attic space. One of them had clearly been occupied by another family member, but the other was just an empty space.

"Having fun, sweetheart?"

I jumped at the unexpected voice behind me and spun around, one hand pressed to my heart.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Esme pulled a face at her faux pas. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's totally fine," I laughed it off.

She smiled warmly at me. "Have you decided which room you'd like for yourself yet?" she asked.

"Not really." I looked around. "Who lived up here last time?"

"Oh, that was Edward. He always did like a little solitude in the house."

That settled it then. I didn't want the second attic room. Edward still scared me a little, especially with how he'd behaved the night Rosalie died, and even having Jasper up here with me wouldn't make me feel entirely comfortable.

"I think I'd like to have my room downstairs with the rest of the family," I announced to Esme who beamed at me. "I'm not sure there's enough space up here for Jasper and I as well as Edward."

Her smile dropped a little.

"Do you think," she began cautiously, "that it might be an idea for you and Jasper to have separate rooms here?"

I frowned at her. Was this was Jasper had been talking about when he told me that he and Carlisle had had 'words'?

Esme must have caught where my thoughts were going because she continued quickly.

"I'm not saying you can't share a room with each other, sweetheart, but you might want space from each other now that you're growing up, and it would look strange if anyone visited the house and saw that the two of you shared a bedroom."

I almost rolled my eyes at the thought of anyone actually coming to visit us at the house, but I knew Esme only meant well and it would be odd if any new friends I made found out that I slept in the same room as my adopted brother.

I relented. "Can we get two rooms side by side?"

Esme's smile widened once more and she clasped her hands together. I realised then that she had been worried about talking to me about this.

"Of course, you can," she agreed. "There's a lovely pair of rooms downstairs with interconnecting doors if you'd like that."

"Sure." I looped my arm through hers. "Can we go and look?"

She nodded and led me back down to the second floor and a pair of rooms at the back of the house that looked out over the meadow. There was even a balcony with each room that stretched out over the decking below.

"What do you think?" Esme asked, turning around in a slow circle.

"Yeah, this is great." I could see myself in this room. "I better see what Jasper thinks first though."

"See what Jasper thinks about what?" He stuck his head around the door.

"About here and the next room," I nodded towards the connecting door, "being our rooms."

He quickly surveyed both rooms. "Looks good, Bella. But then I think any would do for us."

"It's settled then," Esme approved. "You two are in here, Carlisle and I are just opposite and Emmett and Rosalie can pick rooms on the other side of the hall. I'll go let Carlisle know where to put our belongings."

She disappeared quickly and I tilted my head to one side, thinking.

"Have I just been very cleverly manoeuvred into taking the room that will be as far away from Rosalie as possible?"

Jasper laughed, a burst of his humour washing over me. "Absolutely," he admitted with a grin. "Esme's just more subtle about manipulating the situation than Carlisle or I would've been."

"Huh." I couldn't believe I had just been played by Esme of all people. "So why do I need to avoid Rosalie especially. I thought everyone said she was safe to be around now?"

The smile vanished from Jasper's face. "She is, mostly."

"Mostly? You don't believe it?"

He shook his head. "No, if Carlisle, Emmett, Eleazar and the sisters are convinced that she can handle human life then I believe that is too." He paused.

"But?" I prompted.

He grimaced. "But sometimes it's all too easy to forget what we are until we're forcibly reminded." He shot me a strange look that I couldn't quite interpret. "Like what happened with you and Edward that Prom night. The right trigger can drive any of us mad."

"Oh." I blushed, feeling my cheeks burn heatedly. I didn't know that Jasper had found out what happened. "Who told you?"

"Carlisle," he said evenly. "He didn't want us all to live in the same house together without me being prepared for the...possibilities. The question is why didn't _you_ tell me?"

I looked away. "I didn't think about it."

"Bullshit," he called me out.

I huffed and wrapped my arms around myself protectively. I didn't like thinking about what had happened back then.

"Because Rosalie was dying," I finally confessed, "and complaining about Edward just didn't seem important. Nothing happened anyway. Carlisle stopped him before anything happened."

"Exactly," Jasper said pointedly. "_Carlisle_ stopped him. He didn't stop himself. Do you know what he could've done to you?"

"Yes," I snapped, my embarrassment and fear turning to anger. "I'm well aware of what could have happened, but it didn't, so I don't want to talk about it."

Jasper stared at me for a few beats and then nodded slowly.

"Fair enough. But just bear in mind that I only ask because I'm worried about you. You shouldn't let your guard down so much with us; we're capable of hurting you."

I didn't like where he was going with this so I tried to brush it off.

"Not you; you're just a big pussycat really."

He scowled at me, but I could detect the faint hint of a smile on his face.

"Fine," he conceded. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

"Okay," I agreed quickly.

"And don't come crying to me when one of us takes a piece out of your neck."

"Got it."

I made my answer deliberately flippant and offered him my most dazzling smile. I knew he thought I wasn't listening to him, but I heard every word loud and clear. I was already on my guard and strangely, I found Jasper's warning quite comforting. It was reassuring to know he had my back, even when it came to himself.

Jasper shook his head and threw his arm over my shoulders. "Come on. Let's get settled in."

As it turned out, packing involved me sitting on the uncovered sofa while the rest of the family zoomed up and down the stairs at lightning speed. By the time I retreated to my new room thirty minutes later, most of the house was unpacked, including my possessions. I idly began sorting through them while Jasper moved the furniture around, following my directions. Once that was done, he helped put everything away. It was a lot faster and easier than having to do it by myself.

When both our rooms were arranged to our satisfaction, we went to the kitchen and I raided the cupboards.

"I think we're going to have to go to the store," I announced. "There's nothing here yet."

"Sure."

Jasper called up to Carlisle and Esme that we were going into town and then led me to his car and dangled the keys enticingly in my face.

"Care for your first driving lesson?"

I squealed loudly and grabbed them before he could change his mind.

After several false starts and the car stalling once on the driveway and once at a set of lights, Jasper finally directed me into the parking lot of the general store. I successfully parked on the other side of the lot from the rest of the vehicles nearby and then did a mini victory dance as I switched the engine off.

I turned to Jasper who was skimming his hands over the dash.

"So, how did I do?"

He half-grimaced half-smiled at me. "I think maybe next time we'll take Carlisle's car. It's older and so it doesn't matter if we damage the steering."

I pouted at his assessment of my driving skills. I hadn't been that bad. Fumbling out of the driver's seat, I stalked across the lot and into the store, leaving Jasper trailing behind me with a cart. I wasn't going to walk with him if he was going to make fun of my driving.

I was so preoccupied with ignoring Jasper that I accidentally barrelled into two girls standing just inside the store entrance.

"Hey! Watch it!" the blonder of the two girls snapped at me.

"Sorry," I apologised. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Clearly," the same girl snapped.

"Lauren!" the other girl hissed disapprovingly. "Just drop it."

The blonde turned her nose up and stalked away. The other, a friendly looking girl with curly hair, smiled at me. "Just ignore her; she gets PMS a lot."

"Right." I wasn't sure what to make of that information.

"So, you're new here, right? I haven't seen you before. Does that mean you're the new doctor's kids? Is that your brother? Wow, he's hot. I'm Jessica by the way."

I felt faintly stunned by her onslaught of questions but tried to answer them all.

"Uh, yes, we're new and my dad's going to be working up at the hospital. And yes, that's my brother, Jasper. I'm Bella."

Jessica grabbed my hand and shook it enthusiastically. "It's so great to have new people at school this year. We haven't had anyone new in town since second grade."

By this point Jasper had joined us and nodded a reserved greeting towards Jessica who kept sneaking peeks at him out of the corner of her eyes.

I made the introduction. "Jasper, this is Jessica. Jessica, Jasper."

Jessica suddenly became remarkably shy. "Hi," she said softly. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Jasper looked down at me. "I think we better get on with the shopping, Bella. The others will be back soon."

"Okay. It was really nice meeting you," I told Jessica.

"Likewise." She glanced out towards the parking lot. "I should probably go check on Lauren anyway. Bye."

With a wave and a smile she ran out the door and I was left feeling a bit shell-shocked from the encounter.

I glanced up at Jasper and then back towards the lot. "So," I said.

"Yeah," Jasper agreed. "Come on, let's get the food and get out of here."

We sped through the grocery shopping and then headed back to the house, Jasper in the driving seat this time. I didn't protest, but I heard him mutter something under his breath about snails moving faster than I did.

When we got back to the house, Jasper drove up to the garage and then braked abruptly. In the spot where his car had been parked earlier now stood a massive Jeep, with a silver Volvo next to it. The implications of two new cars being here struck me and I inhaled sharply.

"Are they back?" I asked Jasper.

He nodded. "They heard us arrive and are now gathering in the living room to greet us."

I felt a combination of excitement and fear well up inside me. I wanted badly to see Emmett again, but the prospect of facing Edward again, and the new, strange, vampire version of Rosalie, kept me sitting in the passenger seat, my fingers tightly gripping the leather edges.

Jasper stared at me for a minute. "Do you want to go in?" he finally asked.

I took a deep breath and then smiled at him. "Sure, why not?" I forced myself to unbuckle my seatbelt and climb out of the car before I could talk myself out of it. To my relief, Jasper took my hand before we entered the house, offering his silent support.

I had barely pushed the front door open before I was suddenly ripped from Jasper and spun in dizzying circles.

"Bells!"

I shrieked in surprise, but relaxed as soon as my brain worked out that it was only Emmett and I hugged him as he twirled me around.

"It's good to see you. You've gotten heavier since the last time I did this."

Okay. My goodwill only lasted so long, especially when I was being insulted.

"Enough, Emmett. Or I'm going to throw up on you," I warned him.

He laughed, but I had been true to my word before so he quickly set me down and kissed my forehead before stepping back.

"You've grown since the last time I saw you, Bells. You're not little anymore. Sixteen," he mused. "Where did all the time go?"

I punched him lightly in the chest. "Stop being such a dork."

He grinned at me and then directed his attention behind me. "Jasper! My man!"

They did a weird handshake-backslap thing and then nodded at each other.

"Emmett?"

A low, female voice that I hadn't heard before came from behind my big brother and he turned sharply and reached out, before bringing forward the unknown woman.

_Rosalie_.

She was more beautiful and more terrifying than I remembered. The change that the venom had inflicted upon her had increased her natural beauty to the point where she was now devastatingly attractive. I blinked and her appearance was briefly overlaid by my memory of how she had been as a human, but in a flash that was gone. I briefly wondered why I hadn't recognised her voice, but realised that along with everything else, that must have been altered as well.

"Rosie, you remember Bella and Jasper, don't you?"

Emmett's voice was jovial, but I noticed that the arm he had slung around Rosalie's shoulders was tense and his grip was tight. He was preparing to hold her back in case she attacked. I could feel that Jasper had stepped up closer behind me as well, ready to move me out of the way.

Both of them protecting the human.

Rosalie tilted her head to one side, a curiously human gesture.

"Of course," she answered Emmett. "It's nice to meet you both again."

Her voice was pleasant, but blank, so I couldn't tell if she really meant what she was saying or not. The strongest impression that I got off her, apart from her blinding beauty, was one of boredom.

This was confirmed a second later when she turned to my big brother, completely ignoring the rest of us.

"Can we go to our rooms now?"

Emmett beamed at her. "Of course."

He placed a guiding hand on Rosalie's back and pushed her gently towards the stairs. He looked back once over his shoulder.

"We'll catch up later, Bells."

I blinked and they were gone, disappearing silently. Rosalie didn't bother to look back at any of us.

Well, whatever I was expecting, it hadn't been that. I felt...dismissed...by both of them.

Rosalie wasn't going to eat the human in the house, but she clearly wasn't interested in being friends with me either.

Now that she and Emmett had gone upstairs, I could finally see into the rest of the room.

Esme and Carlisle were just behind where Emmett and Rosalie had been. Esme was beaming happily, clearly pleased at this positive sign that we could all live together without me becoming breakfast. Carlisle's expression was slightly more wary, but he too looked pleased at how that first meeting had gone.

Edward was stood on the raised dais by his piano and when I looked over at him, he smiled and nodded in greeting at me and I smiled hesitantly back.

"Hi Edward."

"Bella. Jasper."

"Edward," Jasper growled.

I knew what that was about and smacked Jasper's arm, silently warning him to rein it in. He ignored me.

"I could use a hunt. Care to join me?"

Edward's body froze and I knew that I wasn't the only one to hear the unspoken threat in Jasper's words. To my surprise though, Edward took the bait.

"Sure. Travelling down made me thirsty and it would be nice to remind myself of the area's topography."

He headed for the back of the house and the kitchen door. Jasper went to move in the same direction, but I gripped his arm, stopping him.

"What are you doing?" I murmured, conscious that Esme and Carlisle were right behind us. "Are you going to fight him?"

Jasper patted my hand. "Don't worry about me. I'm just going to make sure that Edward knows where he stands, okay?"

"No! It is not okay," I whispered angrily. "Don't I get a say in this?"

Jasper gave me a look. No, then.

With one last squeeze of my hand he vanished too and I was left standing in the all-white living room with just Esme and Carlisle. I offered them both an uneasy smile, wondering if they were suddenly going to clear off too and leave me alone in the new house.

Luckily, Esme sensed my unease and with a strange look towards Carlisle that I couldn't decipher, she crossed over to me and wrapped her arm across my shoulders.

"Did you find the store, sweetheart? I didn't see you come in with any."

"Crap!"

Neither Jasper nor I had thought about the food when we got back to the house and found the others here.

"I bet it's all warm now."

She hugged me and then clapped her hands together softly.

"Well, why don't we go and bring it all in. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with it; you haven't been back for too long. Let's see what we can salvage."

I allowed her to lead me back out to the driveway, my mind racing the whole time.

A new town _and_ a new family...

I could already tell that things were going to get awkward.


	22. New Beginnings

**Here's the next chapter for you all. I hope you all enjoy reading it and thanks for sticking with me. Big thanks go to AlverdineFF who is forever kicking my ass and making sure I get these chapters out. As always, I don't own Twilight.**

**New Beginnings**

**EmPOV**

Starting school again was a bit of a culture shock, especially after living practically in the wild for the last two years, with no-one but vampires around me. I almost wanted to pretend that I was a college student again, that was normally more fun than playing a school kid, but that would've meant more time hiding in the middle of nowhere and that didn't seem like a fun option.

To my surprise, Rosie took to school again like a duck to water. Although she had been through the experience immediately before she had changed, this time around she seemed to determine to enjoy herself.

Of course, it helped that once again she was the prettiest girl in town, this time with all the lures of vampire attraction added to her own natural beauty.

Edward thought it was because she was showing off. I had punched him in the head and then disabused him of that idea. My Rosie simply took pleasure in taking part in school activities without the weight of her mother's expectations on her head.

Plus, I think she had been getting bored out in Denali the same as I was.

There was lots to be said for civilisation. Even civilisation as small as in Forks.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Denali and the hunting up there and the sisters, but there was only so many times I could stop Rosie from ripping off Kate's arms when she made reference to our past...liaisons.

Bella was another surprise.

Somewhere along the line, when I had been away, my funny, awkward little sister had turned in a confident young woman. She had also become harder along the way, less open, and I realised that our absence and what she had experienced had closed her off, made her more reserved.

She was still my little sister and I was still her big brother, but things were different now.

I knew I only had myself to blame. I had been away too far for too long and while I was preoccupied with helping Rosie in Denali, my baby Bells had grown up and away from me.

Honestly, the way she and Jasper were, it wouldn't surprise me if he was her favourite brother now, and that thought stung a little. At least she had ended up letting me be the one to teach her how to drive after Jasper said he couldn't take it anymore. Although the piece of crap truck she bought from some kid she knew through her friends wasn't what any of us were expecting her to be driving once she passed her test. Just the sound of the exhaust made me wince.

Our first day of school though had left me amazed though. I had expected things to be like they were before, only with all of us pretending to be a bit older than usual where Bella only had two years left before graduation.

The reactions from other students when they saw us was the same as normal, only Rosalie's presence had inspired a few more second glances from the male students than I was used to. I had immediately staked my claim there, wrapping an arm possessively over her shoulders and glaring at any of the halfwits who turned red at the sight of her.

Rosie had given me an exasperated look, but I caught the small smile playing around the corner of her lips.

I had admired her before the trauma that had led to her change and over time that had turned to love on my part. I kind of thought she maybe loved me too, but she was so wary of men still that any affection on her part was tempered by her fear, something that had carried over from her last life.

Jasper had done the same with Bella, only she had laughed and called him out on his macho behaviour.

Edward had sidled along behind us all, looking broody as usual, so nothing new there.

So yeah, everything was playing out as it normally did until lunchtime came.

We had quickly picked up something to pretend eating and looked around for an empty table to sit at when suddenly there was a screeching from the other side of the room.

"Bella! Bella!" A short curly-haired girl was waving frantically. "Bella! Over here." She turned to her friends and I could hear her scolding at them and telling them to make room.

Bella had stared at Jasper for a second and then he nodded ever so slightly and she beamed at him, scampering off through the maze of tables and over to where her frizzy friend was sitting. More chairs at the table were slowly appearing and I realised with some degree of horror that we were all going to be forced to sit with these strange humans too.

"Who are they?" I asked my brother quickly.

He glanced back at me as we followed my sister's footsteps.

"The one who waved at Bella is Jessica Stanley, she's pretty harmless really, prone to gossip though. We met her a few times during the summer, and she and Bella are pretty friendly. Dark-haired girl with glasses is Angela Weber, the minister's daughter. She's been over to the house a few times; haven't you noticed?"

I tried to dredge up the memory of any strange scents in the house which was difficult as Esme had gone on a redecorating kick and all manner of contractors had traipsed in and out of our home. I tried to pick up any which had stood out though and came up blank.

"Nope." I shrugged.

Rosalie shoved me playfully in the arm. "Lavender. You said that day that one of the builders must have been wearing his wife's underwear."

"That was her?"

Edward shook his head in disgust and scowled at me and Jasper just looked amused.

"Well how the hell was I supposed to know that was her?"

"What about the others?" Edward quickly asked. "The blond doesn't like Bella...or Rosalie for that matter."

"What?!" That got my Rosie's attention. "How dare she? The little bitch."

She growled quietly and I nudged her in warning.

"You might not want to growl at the kids, Rose. That might just turn them on more than they already are at the sight of you."

Now I had two family members scowling at me.

"Lauren Mallory," Jasper quickly intervened. "Ex-pageant queen. Doesn't like competition of the female kind." He grinned wickedly. "She's kind of like you, Rosalie, only without the charm."

I could almost see Rosalie mentally dismembering Jasper in that instant.

"The boys – nothing much to say about them," Jasper continued. "Typical teenage boys for the most part. Lots of talk, not much game. The blond one, Mike Newton, has already been turned down twice by our Bella, but he still remains hopeful."

Now I was the one who had to stop myself from growling in the middle of the cafeteria.

"So, are we going over there?" Rosalie eventually asked.

"Well, I am," Jasper replied. "It's up to you what you do, but we're here for the next two years and I'm not going to make life more difficult for Bella than it has to be so I'm perfectly capable of playing nice and making friends."

He sauntered off to join our sister and I glanced back sceptically at Edward and Rosalie. "What do you think?"

"Well I think we look like losers just stood here so we might as well join them," Rose finally said.

So we found ourselves from that moment on, surrounded by humans at lunchtime, forced to choke down human food, just so Bella was happy. Well, Rosalie didn't choke down food, she point blank refused to, but the rest of us did just to keep up appearances.

After a while I even started enjoying the mundanity of the experience. Some of these kids were actually quite fun, once the guys got the message that if they touched my little sister they were dead. Even Rosalie and Jasper eventually relaxed around so many people all talking loudly and at once.

Edward skipped lunch most of the time, claiming it gave him a headache. I just thought he was being a drama queen and should man up.

Where Bella had pretty much only hung out with us or Vera before, now she was surrounding by what sometimes seemed like endless friends, although Lauren never really warmed to her and was known for making snide remarks behind her back.

She was hardly ever at home these days.

Mike Newton had got her a job at his parents' outdoor store and if she wasn't there then it was study dates, trips to the diner and the occasional party.

And because he was almost permanently joined to her hip, Jasper went wherever she went.

I was a bit worried at first about exactly how close he and Bella were, but after speaking with Carlisle he had reassured me that there was nothing to worry about, and that in mine and Edward's absence, Bella and Jasper had just learnt to rely more heavily upon each other than before.

Despite our lack of former closeness though, everything was good in the household. Rosie had settled in well, although I had caught her on occasion staring at Esme with something closely resembling hatred, and Bella was enjoying living in Forks.

Life was as good as it was going to get.

**EPOV**

"Do you know what she thinks about you?"

"Huh?" Bella turned around from where she was washing her dishes after eating.

Jasper, sat at the table, head bent over a history book, looked up too, his eyes narrowing at me.

'_What are you up to, Edward?'_

I ignored him.

"Jessica," I answered Bella. "Do you know what she thinks about you?"

Bella froze for a second and then turned back toward the sink. "I'm not interested, Edward."

Jasper was still mentally warning me to shut up but I felt like I had to press the issue.

Since our return from Denali everything in the household had been...different. Once again I was confronted by Bella's inscrutability, only this time it felt like I could judge her character well enough to even hazard a guess at what she was thinking. Emmett had reflected that she wasn't as open a character as she used to be and while I knew a part of that was just her growing up, it bothered me as much as it did him.

It also bothered me that she hardly talked to me anymore. I had been prepared when I returned for her fear – after all, the last time I saw her before I left, I had not exactly behaved in a gentleman-like manner – but what I hadn't been prepared for was the carefully cultivated indifference she felt around me. It made me feel cut off from both her and the rest of our family.

What also bothered me was the loss of the easy camaraderie between myself and my siblings.

While we all had different interests and hobbies, we had still always come together to talk, especially in free periods in the school – the time when we were forced to stay put but still were able to socialise with each other. But now I was often ousted, forced to spend the lunch break away from my family as the human company they now kept bombarded my head with every trivial, idiotic and vile thought they could have.

Which led me to wonder why Bella was friends with any of them in the first place?

Well, the Weber girl was perfectly pleasant, but she was the only exception.

"I just think with you spending so much time with her, that you deserve to understand what she's really thinking about you."

"Edward," Jasper warned. "Just drop it. She doesn't want to know and you shouldn't be sharing these things in the first place. People's thoughts are their own, no matter whether you can read them or not, and quite often hearing one thought doesn't tell you everything about the person."

I shook my head at him. I didn't know why he wasn't more worried about this than I was.

"But surely you're aware of their true feelings as well?"

"I am," he confirmed. "But other than them being the typical feelings that most teenagers have, I don't know what you want me to say, Edward."

"I just don't understand how you can be friends with someone so obscenely idiotic and self-centred. Her mind's almost as depraved as the average human male's and the grotesque things she's imagined between you and Jasper, Bella, are..."

"Enough!" Bella slammed her hand down on the counter and one of the bones inside clicked repulsively. She frowned down at the limb, but then turned her fury on me.

"Enough, Edward! I don't care what she's thinking, okay? I don't care if she doesn't debate philosophy in her head or if her mind is halfway as bad as her potty mouth. I don't care if she wonders what mine and Jasper's relationship is like, because actually, she says what she thinks most of time and she already asked me if we were 'close'."

She made a strange hand gesture around that word, as if it were significant.

Stalking forward, she got very close to me and pointed in my face. I would have been offended by the gesture if the scent of her pounding blood, so close to me suddenly, hadn't distracted me.

Jasper growled in warning and I leaned away from her, back in my seat.

"What I do care about," Bella continued, "is that she's been a good friend to me while I'm here. And that you're sitting here badmouthing her. Honestly, Edward. Grow up!"

With that said, she pointed at me one last time and then spun on her heel and stomped up the stairs, muttering about finding Carlisle as she did.

I sat in shock, confused and a little hurt by her dismissal of my concerns. I had only been trying to look out for her.

I turned to Jasper, ready to speak but he held up a hand.

"Just don't, Edward. You'll only make it worse."

"I was only trying to warn her," I defended myself.

Jasper sighed. "I know you were, and probably Bella knows you were too, but you can't go around accusing her friends of using her. If they're friendly, then they're friendly. She's smart enough to know her own enemies."

I knew that. Even though I may not have the highest regard for her friends' intelligence, I was in no dismissive of Bella's mental abilities.

"Why are you so comfortable around them?" I asked Jasper.

In all the other locations we had lived, he had seemed to find the schooling system as trying and headache-inducing as I had. And now he seemed to be throwing himself into human life with gusto.

His mind raced and I forced myself to block out his thoughts and listen only to his words.

"I'm not. Not really," he eventually concluded. "Just like they're not really that comfortable around me, what with the warning signals their bodies send them when they're in our presence. Sometimes their thoughts and feelings do get too much." He shrugged. "But we all manage to tolerate each other quite nicely and that's all down to Bella. If it all gets too much then I just focus on her and block out all the others. You should try that too; it might work out what with you not being able to read her and all."

I turned over what he had said in my mind.

"So what you're saying is that you grit your teeth and stick it out just for Bella."

He grinned, baring all his teeth in a way that would send the average human flinching away.

"Pretty much. And once you get to know them, some of them aren't that bad."

"Like who?" I challenged.

"Angela Weber."

"She doesn't count. Everyone likes her, even me."

"Ben Cheney then."

"The short guy with the crush on Angela?" I asked.

"Sure," Jasper replied. "He's got good emotional balance. Why wouldn't I like him?"

I rolled my eyes at him and Jasper's smile disappeared.

"Look, in all seriousness, Edward, it's two years out of our lives, which is nothing. We play nice with the humans and not only is Bella happy, but we don't have to put up with all the speculation and gossip that usually surrounds us in these places. It's not a bad compromise really."

His argument had swayed me somewhat, and although I wasn't totally convinced just yet – nothing could possibly make me believe that sitting at the same lunch table as Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory was tolerable in any way – I understood his point of view.

"I guess I should go and apologise to Bella. I didn't mean to upset her earlier."

"I think she would appreciate that." This roughly translated in Jasper's mind as 'apologise or I will make you sorry'.

Heading up to the room that he and Bella shared, I knocked on the door.

"What?" her voice eventually answered.

"Bella, it's Edward. May I please come in?"

The door swung open with Bella on the other side of it, but she blocked my entrance to the room, letting me know that my visit was unwelcome.

"What do you want, Edward?" She frowned at me and I felt like the naughty schoolboy of my youth again.

"I was hoping that I could apologise to you for my comments earlier about your friends. They were rude and uncalled for and I spoke out of turn. I'm very sorry if I offended you in any way, although that was not my intention."

Bella crossed her arms in front of her, not giving an inch.

"You can't just say that about people, Edward. It's not fair. Even without the mind-reading skills it was a horrible thing to say."

"I know that..." I tried to protest.

"Do you? Really?" she interrupted me. "They're my friends, not the enemy here. You don't have to judge them for...malicious intent or whatever. And I don't like that you think that I'm too stupid to make my own mind up about people."

"I don't think you're stupid at all," I protested.

Bella sighed in frustration. "Well then don't say things that sound like you do. I don't appreciate it."

This apologising business was trickier than expected, especially when I couldn't read Bella's mind and just tell her what she wanted to hear, like I did for everyone else.

"I really am sorry, Bella. I only hope I can make it up to you somehow."

That caught her attention.

"How then?"

"I beg your pardon?" I hadn't been expecting that.

Bella stared at me challengingly. "How are you going to make it up to me?"

I was put on the spot here. I had no idea what Bella might expect or like. Luckily, the image of a meadow that I had visited frequently when we had lived here previously popped into my head.

"I could take you out. Show you some of my favourite places around Forks." Bella looked somewhat taken aback by my proposal. "Only if that's something that you'd like to do, of course," I rushed to reassure her.

"Ummm, sure. I guess."

She didn't sound very enthusiastic about the idea, but I consoled myself that at least Bella had accepted my apology in some small way.

"Thank you. I'll leave you to your studies then. Goodnight Bella."

The puzzled look had returned to Bella's face, but she nodded and attempted a smile before retreating behind her door once more.

I felt strangely pleased by her acceptance though. She had absolved me from my guilt of speaking badly of her friends, and I would now have the opportunity to make amends, not just for this disagreement, but for my feral attack on her two years ago.

I could only hope that she would like what I had planned.


	23. Developments

**Here's the latest chapter for you all. I hope you like it, especially as this was the chapter that I didn't know I'd have to include in my plan until about three weeks ago. Anyway, thanks so much to you all for continuing to read this story, I really appreciate it. As always, I don't own Twilight.**

**Developments**

**EsPOV**

"Aren't they just adorable?" I squealed, trying to peer out into the garden from behind the curtain, only to be greeted by the exasperated expression on Edward's face.

"Who's adorable?" my husband asked, crossing the room and wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Edward and Bella, of course," I told him. "They make such a sweet couple."

Carlisle stilled behind me and then shifted to look out the window at the scene of my delight.

"Couple?" he enquired. The false lightness in his tone didn't fool me for a second.

I turned around slowly in his arms and pushed him back away from the window and the sight of Edward and Bella sitting side by side on the porch swing, talking quietly to each other.

"Well, they're not a couple just yet, but haven't you noticed that they've been spending an awful lot of time together lately, especially since her birthday."

Carlisle frowned. "I knew that he had taken her out into the forest a few times, something about apologising for something he'd said to her, – I think Jasper knows more about that than the rest of us do - but I didn't realise there was anything too it, other than them finally getting along with each other."

I smiled and wound my arms around his neck, my fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"I don't think there is, at the moment," I told him. "But the way he looks at her sometimes..." I sighed at the thought of romance. "It almost reminds me of how you look at me."

Rising onto my toes, I pulled him down for a soft kiss and then beamed at him. Carlisle returned my smile with a worried grimace. The sight of his unease put me on edge.

"What is it?"

"I'm..." He frowned. "Do you think...? Should we say anything to them about it?"

I was confused. "Like what?"

"I'm not sure." He pulled me gently away from the back of the house where Bella and Edward were still sitting and led me up to his study so we could have some privacy. Once he was sat on the armchair in front of his desk, I perched on his lap.

"Now, what's this about?" I asked him.

Carlisle rubbed his hand over his forehead. "Did I ever tell you about the conversation I once had with Jasper about Bella growing up?"

"No, I don't believe so."

He pulled a rueful face. "I was worried that in time, Bella would come to see him as being more than brother and that concerned me a great deal. It now seems, however, that it wasn't Jasper that I should have been concerned with."

"Oh, Carlisle."

I hugged him tightly. I could see why he wanted to protect Bella, she was his only daughter, but at the same time I understood why perhaps she was now showing an increased interest in Edward.

"Did you ever think," I began, "that maybe she and Edward would be good for each other?"

I didn't want to play devil's advocate here, but I felt that maybe I had a different perspective on the situation than Carlisle did.

"How could they be good for each other," he asked. "He's a vampire, she's human. He's over one hundred years old, Bella is barely seventeen. Not to mention that he's been her brother for the last four years. This is exactly the kind of thing I worried about with Jasper and now it's Edward I have to warn to be careful."

"You don't have to warn anyone," I told him gently. "I'm sure they know what they're doing. And judging by the face that you pulled when you talk about speaking with Jasper, I'm not sure that doing the same with Edward will have any different result."

"But -"

"Ssssh," I hushed him, placing my fingers over his lips. "I think you're worrying too much about a situation that hasn't even come to pass yet. And even if it does, all those worries that you have about Bella and Edward aren't as awful as you might first think."

He lifted his chin, encouraging me to go on.

"Edward has never been mature for a vampire in the way that Jasper is and I think a lot of that relates to their life experience beforehand. You forget, Jasper was a man who had been fighting for a long time when he was turned, while Edward was barely out of adolescence. He's very intelligent, for sure, but at the same time he's still a seventeen-year-old boy in terms of emotional maturity. Bella is probably a great deal more mature than he is at this point in time. And I don't think you should worry about their relationship to each other either."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, surely if you've talked with Jasper about this already, part of your concern was always that he's practically raised her these last few years. You forget that even before the incident in the woods, Bella and Edward were never the closest of siblings. She never had the kind of brotherly relationship with him that she had with Emmett, for example. Now, I would be much more concerned if _they_ started acting sweet with each other."

Carlisle pushed a strand of hair that had fallen loose of the knot it was in back behind my ear and placed a kiss on my forehead.

"And her humanity?"

I really wasn't sure how to answer that question.

Finally I settled for, "Maybe she just appreciates spending time with someone whom she doesn't have to lie to when it comes to us. At least with Edward there's no secrecy and she can just be herself without having to watch her words in case she gives us away."

Carlisle still looked conflicted despite my reassurances.

I kissed him once to distract him from his worries, and then once again just because I wanted to.

"Maybe we should just let it play out," I suggested once I had finally pulled away from his delectable mouth. "They're both intelligent enough to make their own decisions and who knows, it might just come to nothing."

"Let it play out?" Carlisle was sceptical. I nuzzled his neck comfortingly.

"Fine," he eventually conceded. "I'll let it play out, but at the first sign that one of them is getting hurt, or that Jasper and Emmett are going to tear Edward to pieces, then I'm stepping in."

"That sounds very reasonable," I agreed with him, a teasing lilt to my voice.

He growled softly and nipped the underside of my jaw. "Why do I let you talk me into these things?"

I smiled triumphantly. "Because I'm always right and you know it."

"True," he granted.

He captured my lips once more and I was just about to suggest that we move along to our bedroom when the phone rang.

We both groaned in frustration, but Carlisle dutifully picked it up and spoke rapidly to the person on the other end of the line.

"I have to go into the hospital," he explained when had finally hung up.

"I know, I heard. " I couldn't say that I wasn't disappointed, but I knew how much his work meant to him.

Banding his arms around my back, he lifted me up as he stood and ravaged my mouth with his own before pulling away with a grin. "I would much rather go to bed with you though." He slapped me on the ass and then dropped me back down to the ground, ignoring my half-outraged shriek.

I watched as he gathered up his medical bag and coat and headed towards the door.

"I'll see you later."

"You better," I replied with a wink.

He laughed happily, all traces of his former worry gone.

Just before he left, he stuck his head back around the front door. "Esme?"

"Yes, Carlisle?"

"Keep an eye on Edward and Bella for me, please? Just in case."

I sighed and shook my head but his concern was so endearing that I agreed without too much protest. "Yes, Carlisle."

He blew me a kiss and then seconds later I heard his Mercedes start up and then drive away.

Wondering what to do with myself, my feet once again drifted to the back of the house and the voices I heard there.

Bella was still sat on the porch swing, gesturing with her hands as she explained something to Edward. When she moved her arms, the silver bracelet he had given her for her birthday glinted in the sun. Edward had moved slightly away from the swing so that he was now sat on the grass in a patch of shade in front of her. Although they seemed to be discussing some kind of singing competition on the television, he looked utterly enraptured by her every word.

They were just so adorable together.

I knew that Carlisle reasons for concern were valid enough, but both Edward and Bella were happy together for now. All I wanted was for them both to be happy.

Wasn't that enough?

Outside, Bella threw back her head and laughed.

I could only hope that it would be enough.

Clasping my hands to my chest, I crossed my fingers and prayed that it would be enough.

I didn't know what would happen if it wasn't.

**CPOV**

Bella and Edward were dating. It was awkward.

Not for Bella. The entire family went out of the way to avoid dragging her into any of the fights that broke out as a result.

Esme would wring her hands fretfully, wanting only the best for the pair of them, but unsure how to deal with the conflict that arose as a result. The boys were bickering all the time, Emmett and Jasper ganging up on Edward at every available opportunity. I tried to referee all of them, which mostly involved keeping them from killing each other, but it was all to no avail. The house was in total chaos.

The only person who seemed unaffected by it all was Rosalie.

She mostly spent her time with Emmett, listening to him rant, although I was glad to see that she and Bella had resumed the tentative friendship that they had prior to her death as well.

Despite our best efforts, Bella had picked up on the tension in the family, and despite us never having the close father-daughter relationship that I had desired, she knocked on the door to my study one day.

"Carlisle?" She peered around the door. "Can we talk?"

"Of course." I set the book I had been reading aside. "What can I do for you?"

Biting her lip, she shuffled forward and perched nervously on the chair opposite mine. I waited, but she merely fidgeted nervously in her seat.

"Bella?"

"Can you please tell Emmett and Jasper to stop beating Edward up? I get that they're just trying to look after me, but two days ago I was looking out of my bedroom window and I saw him come back without his hand." She shook her head. "I don't really want to interfere 'cos I know that he can handle himself, but it's gone too far now and their concern really isn't necessary."

She looked so calm and composed sitting there opposite from me and if it wasn't for the slight twitch of her mouth as she finished speaking then I wouldn't have picked up on the hesitation in her request.

I tried to be as reassuring as possible. "I can certainly ask them to do so, but as you know they are both fairly headstrong so I'm not sure how effective that talk would be."

"Thank you." Bella smiled, but didn't make a move to leave. Her hands twisted in her lap.

"Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"No," she immediately denied.

I nodded slowly but remained quiet. If there was something else that she was worried about the best way to get her to open up was to stay silent and let her speak when she was ready.

"Yes," she eventually decided. "Sorry, I mean, yes there was something else I wanted to ask you." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Why haven't you said anything to me about Edward?"

She had completely lost me.

"I'm sorry?"

"I mean, why did you say something before to Jasper, when you were only worried about as dating, but you haven't said anything to either me or Edward about us actually dating? It's not really important, I guess, but I just...wondered."

"Ah."

I hadn't realised that Jasper had told her about our talk before, although as they shared nearly everything else, it shouldn't have come as such a surprise.

"Do you like Edward more than Jasper or something?"

"Not at all. I admit that on occasion I may show Edward certain favouritisms simply because he was my first companion, but that doesn't mean that I don't like or respect Jasper, or indeed Emmett, any less."

Bella frowned. "Then why not talk to him?"

"I could talk with him if you wanted me to," I offered. The look of horror that crossed her face made me chuckle. "And your expression is exactly why I wouldn't."

Bella clapped her hands to her cheeks to hide the automatic blush at my observation. She smiled and shook her head.

"Yeah, no thanks."

Shifting forward, I leaned on my arms on the desk. "Truly, Bella, I did debate over whether I should speak with both of you about your relationship, but given the reaction I had when I spoke with Jasper, I decided that in this instance, I would let both you and Edward make your own decisions. You're both very mature for your age and I don't think that either of you would approve of any intervention made by me, even though your brothers seem to be intervening of their own accord regardless."

Bella snorted and rolled her eyes.

"I'll speak with them," I promised her.

"Thank you." Bella stood up and crossed over to the door.

Just before she opened it, I stopped her.

"Bella?"

"Yes?" She turned around, curiosity in her eyes.

"Can I...?" I stopped abruptly. I wasn't sure how to broach this, but I felt that I must. Esme's words of reassurance when Bella and Edward first started spending more time together had soothed some of my worries, but my conscience wouldn't allow me to say nothing.

Bella was still waiting for me to speak, eyes wide in anticipation.

"Just be careful... please. I trust that you'll both be sensible, but this is the first relationship that both of you have had and I don't want to see anyone get hurt."

"I'll be careful," she vowed seriously. "I wouldn't do anything to deliberately hurt him, you know?"

I stood up, afraid that she had taken my words the wrong way. Holding out my arms, I was gratified when she moved towards me, accepting the hug I offered.

"It's not just him I'm worried about. I just want the best for both of you."

"You don't have to worry, Carlisle," she murmured into my chest.

"I know," I told her, "but I think I'm going to nonetheless."

With one last hug, Bella pulled away.

"I should go. I'm supposed to be going shopping with Jessica, Angela and Lauren this afternoon."

"Do you need any money?" My concern immediately to whether she would need extra money in case the girls' car broke down and they needed to get home or if they wanted to eat out.

Bella laughed. "No, I think I'm covered from all the money you and Esme gave me the last time I went shopping. I've still got most of it left."

I pulled a face. Maybe we had gone a little overboard before.

"I'll see you later then."

Bella waved as she left. "Bye, Carlisle. I'll be back by ten."

"Drive safely," I called after her.

About thirty minutes after she left, I heard loud whoops which indicated that the boys had returned to the house. Deciding that it was better to confront them now, when Bella was out of the house, than later, I went to talk to them.

Halfway down the stairs, I met with Rosalie who was on her way up, her clothes bloody.

"Rosalie." I nodded. "How are you today?"

She offered me a hesitant smile. "I'm good, thanks. I need to go and get cleaned up though. Hunting's still quite messy for me."

Reaching out, I was pleased to note she didn't shy away, and I squeezed her shoulder lightly before dropping my hand.

"It does get easier," I reassured her.

"I hope so." With another brief smile, she disappeared into the sanctuary of her room.

When I got downstairs, the boys were still jostling each other, although it was plain to see that far from the easy roughhousing that normally occurred, this time it was Edward against Emmett and Jasper.

As they taunted each other, I clapped my hands together loudly. They all froze, their head turning to face me

"Enough!" I ordered. "This all has to stop now!"

"What has to stop?" Emmett asked.

"All this bickering between you three. Bella came to see me today because she was concerned that you two were ganging up on Edward, so it needs to stop today!"

To their credit, Emmett and Jasper immediately looked equal measures guilty and apologetic.

"It's disturbing her and quite frankly it's disturbing me. Bella and Edward are together and you two need to accept that."

Edward looked faintly embarrassed by my pronouncement, his head ducking as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. Jasper glared at him and Emmett tried to protest.

"But, it's Bella, Carlisle..."

"Exactly! Do you really think she appreciates your behaviour right now? Or that she can't make her own decisions? Because right now you're running roughshod over all of her wishes. It ends now! Do you all understand? And that means everything – the taunting, the fighting, the dismemberment – all of it."

They all shuffled awkwardly.

"Now go and clean up and in the future I want you all on your best behaviour."

I couldn't help my amusement when they all hurriedly nodded and then disappeared out of the room as quickly as possible. Despite their enhanced mentalities, sometimes they really did act like naughty schoolchildren.

Hopefully, that would be the end of the conflict between them now.

Although I wasn't that this would be the end of it all.


	24. Tumbling Down

**So here's the next chapter for you all. I hope you all like it and I apologise for any drama - I had to write it, it was on my plan. Thank you as always for continuing to read this story. We're in the home straight now, only two chapters left to go after this one, so I hope you enjoy this chapter and what's to come.**

**As always, I don't own Twilight.**

**Tumbling Down**

**RPOV**

"I just don't get. What does she even see in him? Not that any of the chumps at school would be any better, but at least I know I could take any of them if they treated her badly. Edward's such a sneaky, little bastard. Unless Bella ever says anything then how do we know that he's treating her right? And you know he just uses his gift to try and get around us all."

I rolled my eyes as Emmett continued to rant about Bella and Edward for the millionth time. He was obsessed with the pair of them, particularly because I suspected that he would never be happy with her dating anyone.

Really, he didn't require me to respond to him at all. I just needed to hum in agreement every now and then and that sufficed.

I finish drying my hair, ridding it of the last of the moisture from the shower, and brushed it out once more to banish any tangles. With half my brain idly listening to Emmett complain, the other half focused on twisting my hair up into a complicated knot. It was very important that it didn't come loose when I was running tonight. There was nothing worse than ending up with half a forest on top of your head.

Emmett finally stopped talking and stared over at me. I could see his reflection in the mirror and the combination affection and lust on his face was almost overwhelming. My eyes briefly flitted down and when they returned to his only affection remained.

He was a good man. I didn't deserve him really, but for some reason he wanted to be mine and I was prepared to cling to him with everything I had.

"You look beautiful," he breathed. "Prettiest girl I've ever seen."

He was also a consummate flatterer.

"Don't be stupid," I chided him.

"I'm not." He glided forward and placed his hands on my shoulders, leaning down so our faces were next to each other.

"Beautiful," he said firmly and then kissed me on the cheek.

It was such a sweet gesture and I reached back to lightly caress his jaw. I was getting better with physical intimacies again, but every now and then a touch or a brush would take me by surprise and I would just react, slamming my imagined opponent to the ground.

There were lots of dents in the floor that matched the shape of Emmett's body.

He was endlessly kind and patient though, and the only strain of guilt I felt about my plans for tonight was that I would deceive him to put them into action.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us tonight?" he asked. "Hunting as a family's always fun; it would be a shame for you to miss it."

I smiled at him. "No, thank you. You know how messy I am still. It would be embarrassing. Maybe next time."

His reflection grinned at me. "I'll take you up on that, Rosie."

With another quick kiss, he said goodbye and disappeared out of the room. Downstairs, the noise reached a new level as he joined his brothers. After a few moments and lots of yelling, the house suddenly went quiet.

I was now alone in the house and that knowledge combined with the silence sent a chill down my spine. I didn't like being alone anymore, having Emmett, and even Bella and rest of the family, around was more comforting than I first realised.

What was done was done now, and all I could do was see my plan through until the end.

Crossing to my closet, I opened it and stared at the offensive dress.

Bright red, made of satin, thin straps – it wasn't the exact same dress, but it was close enough, and I knew enough about men to know that they wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Donning it quickly, I finished off my make-up, slipped on a pair of heels and then stared into the mirror.

There were differences, of course.

My hair was styled up instead of hanging loose, the slight imperfections in my appearance were gone, my skin was paler, and my eyes had changed colour, but all of that just made me look more unearthly, more supernatural.

I almost smiled at the reaction that I was bound to provoke.

With one last slick of lipstick, I was ready. Moving downstairs, I turned the corner at the stairs and nearly ran into Bella.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed at her. "You're supposed to be out."

She had jumped backwards in surprise and had one hand placed over her racing heart. She frowned at my questioning.

"I was out. I just got back a minute ago. Jessica dropped me off."

"Why didn't I hear the car pull up?" I was still furious at being caught out. Everyone was supposed to be going out. This wouldn't work if anyone saw me and tried to talk me out of it.

Bella was still breathing hard as she replied. "The traction on her car can't handle the track leading up to the house, so she dropped me off on the main road and I walked the rest of the way."

I cursed my distraction. I should've heard her coming back. I could have avoided her if only I had been paying attention.

As it was, now that she had got over the shock of nearly crashing into me, Bella had now noticed what I was wearing. Her hand flew up from her chest to cover her mouth as she looked me up and down.

"Oh, Rosalie."

She shook her head and tears formed in her eyes. Spinning around, she walked into the living room and collapsed onto the sofa. I followed her. I had to make sure she didn't call the family back to stop me from my goal. She had her head buried in her hands and I fought the very human desire to shuffle nervously on my feet.

"Are you going to tell?" I asked, dreading her answer.

I supposed that I could always knock her out if she tried to contact anyone, but my own strength was still an issue for me sometimes and I didn't want to accidentally cave her skull in.

She finally looked back up at me and I noticed with some surprise that her face was wet with her distress. I didn't understand why she was crying – I wasn't any threat to her – but wondered whether this was maybe some kind of delayed reaction to that night nearly three years ago. I vaguely remembered Emmett telling me that Bella had nearly been attacked that night as well, although I failed to understand why she was now dating someone who had tried to kill her.

"Tell?"

"If you called Carlisle right now, he and Emmett would probably come back to stop me."

"Stop you? Stop you from... oh." Understanding crossed Bella's face, but instead of the condemnation I was expecting, she actually looked sympathetic. "No, Rosalie. I'm not going to stop you. It wouldn't be my place to stop you."

I tilted my head in question. She was being strangely reasonable about my intentions.

"Why doesn't it bother you?"

"Huh?" She met my eyes for the first time that evening.

"You know I'm going back for revenge. You know that people are going to die. Why doesn't that bother you? It would bother your boyfriend."

Bella scrunched up her face. "I know it would bother Edward, and I don't think he's going to be happy that I haven't called him to tell him what's going to happen, but you forget Rosalie, I was there. I saw you that night. I saw what they did to you. Hell, Jasper's already killed half of them just for threatening me. I have no reason to stop you. It would be incredibly hypocritical of me if I did."

Of all the things I had expected, understanding wasn't one of them. Instinct made me swoop forward and hug her. "Thank you."

She had a faint smile on her face when I pulled back.

"I should go." I straightened up. "I want to get there and back before sunrise."

"Good luck, I guess." She raised one shoulder awkwardly.

I was almost to the door when I turned back. Something had been bothering me for the last few months and since Bella and I were actually talking for once, I thought that now was the perfect opportunity to mention it, even if she didn't listen.

"Bella?"

"Yes?" She looked up from where she had been studying her hands.

"Just... I know that you're okay with what I'm about to do, but...please don't get too comfortable with us vampires."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

I took a step closer to her. "I mean, that I'm sure Edward is great and all, but you're human, and that's such a precious thing. I would give everything to have my old life back, to be human again. I would love to be able to grow up and have children, to have my very own version of Harry." I smiled briefly at the memory of my cousin's baby. "But I can't, and knowing that is the worst thing in the world."

She stared at me wide-eyed, but didn't protest so I continued.

"You've got so many possibilities in front of you, Bella, and I appreciate that while none of the boys around here are particularly attractive, I don't think you should have latched onto Edward like you have."

Her face went blank as she visibly shut down. "Has Emmett been talking to you about this?"

"No," I denied, then rolled my eyes as I recalled his ranting. "Actually, yes. But that's mostly to complain about you being too young to date at all, than about Edward."

"Typical." She shook her head.

I tried to explain what I meant quickly before she decided that she wasn't going to listen to me anymore.

"Dating Edward, even though I know he can be kind, draws you more into this world and it's so unnatural, Bella. I mean, what do you expect is going to happen?" I didn't mean it unkindly, but I knew that my words sounded harsh. "I know you're only dating now, but what happens if either of you decide that you want more from each other. You can't stay with him forever, not as a human. You'll grow old and die and he'll stay exactly as he is forever. Are you prepared to die and become this," I angrily gestured towards my body, "just for the sake of a boy?"

Bella remained silent and I sighed in frustration.

"Please, just don't get so caught up in this family that you forget to have a normal life at the same time. We're already isolated enough as it is and I can barely imagine a lifetime like this for myself, let alone for someone else."

"I'm not going to become a vampire," she finally spoke.

I was a little taken aback by the conviction in her voice. Given her behaviour around the rest of the family, I had assumed that she wouldn't be so firmly against the idea.

"Good." It was all I could say. "I'm glad to hear it."

We stayed in silence for a moment and then I realised that I was cutting off my opportunity every second I remained here.

"I should go." I looked back towards Bella who was still huddled on the sofa. "Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine," she replied. "You should go if you want to be back in time."

I took her at her word and left the house, easily running through the forest and bracken in the heels I had chosen. As I ran my mind turned from Bella's situation towards my own and what I intended to do.

The thirst for revenge grew as I crossed the state boundary and the rest of the journey blurred as a result.

Everything else was red that night.

It always had been my favourite colour.

**EPOV**

Shaking my head at my brother's antics, I ran back to the house. As much as I loved hunting with my brothers, I knew that Bella would be back home before long and I wanted to spend some time with her before we were interrupted.

I knew we wouldn't have long together. Emmett would start getting anxious soon about leaving Rosalie by herself, and also come back and Jasper would probably follow him. Esme and Carlisle might stay out a bit longer, but that was only because like me, they were searching for the privacy that didn't come with living in a seven-person household.

When I reached the house, Bella was sitting on the sofa. She was facing the television, but it wasn't switched on, and not for the first time, I wished that I could read her mind so that I knew what she was thinking.

"Bella?"

I crossed the living room and sat next to her. Jerking out of her reflections, she smiled.

"Hi Edward." She tilted her head upwards, clearly angling for a kiss, but I pulled back. I didn't want her to be able to taste the mouth that I was sure still lingered in my mouth.

"Just a moment, love."

I heard her huff as I quickly rinsed out my mouth and sped back down to her.

"Sorry. Now, where were we?"

This time when she lifted her mouth towards me, I was able to press my lips carefully to hers. I broke away after a few seconds and glanced around the house.

"I don't hear Rosalie. Where is she? I thought she was staying in tonight."

Bella squirmed and I immediately picked up the nervous signals coming off her body.

"She went out," she explained lamely. "I don't know where. I don't think she likes hunting with everyone around."

Bella was a dear girl, but she was also a terrible liar. I knew from experience though that if I pushed her, she would just shut down on me, so I decided to leave it. Rosalie had hunted on her own before without any trouble and Emmett would be back soon to track her down if need be.

For now, I was just happy to have the evening alone with my girl.

I kissed Bella again, pulling away when her scent threatened to overwhelm me, and she sighed.

"Do you want to go upstairs?"

"Upstairs?"

She looked at me as I had said something idiotic.

"Yeah," she answered. "If the others come back, I don't want them catching us making out on the sofa." She giggled. "It'd be a bit embarrassing. Can you imagine Emmett and Jasper's reaction?" She laughed again and I forced myself to laugh along with her.

Unfortunately, I knew all too well what my brothers' reaction would be if they caught Bella and I doing anything but talking.

"Come on then." Standing up, I held out my hand and Bella took it with a smile.

She kept close to my side as we walked up the stairs towards my room, although I kept a close eye out in case she stumbled. I loved how comfortable we had become in each other's presence, even though my bloodlust still occasionally reared its head. It was so refreshing to have someone whom I could share things with, even though sometimes I really didn't understand how Bella came to certain conclusions about things. Her closed mind fascinated me.

She immediately sat down on the long sofa in my room when we reached it and tried to pull me down next to her. Although she wasn't physically able to draw me closer to her, I obliged her and she immediately snuggled in next to me.

"How was your afternoon with Jessica and Angela?" I asked her.

I felt her shrug. "It was okay. Jessica's trying to convince me that I want to go to the girl's choice dance, but there's no way in hell that I want to go to a school function ever again. We went up to Port Angeles though and I helped them pick out dresses. They look so pretty in them."

I ran my fingers through her hair.

"You would look pretty too."

She snorted. "Yeah, right. I'm not going regardless. I can just look pretty here at home in my sweats instead."

I smiled and kissed the crown of her head.

"Anyway," she wriggled around so she was kneeling on the sofa, her face close to mine, "I don't want to talk about the stupid dance anymore. Not while we've got the house to ourselves."

She kissed me again, more forcefully this time, and against my better judgment, I let myself get carried away in the moment, my hands lightly clasping her shoulders.

One of her arms slipped around my neck as we kissed and I didn't notice where the other one had gone until I felt my shirt being unbuttoned.

I jerked away from her sharply, ending up on the other side of the room. Bella was sprawled across the sofa where she had lost her balance when I had moved.

"Edward?" She shook her head. "What...?" She looked utterly bewildered.

I immediately felt bad for pulling away from her, but she had to know how dangerous it was.

"Bella, you know we can't...do...that."

"Do what? Kiss?"

"No." If I could've blushed, I would have in that moment. "We can't be...close to each other." I quickly buttoned my shirt back up again while a number of strange expressions I couldn't decipher crossed Bella's face.

I took a step back towards her, but she scrambled back off the sofa so that she was standing, her arms crossed in front of her. I could recognise her defensive posture from a mile off.

"Bella," I began. She spoke before I could say anymore though.

"Why not?" she bit out.

"Why not what?"

"Why can't we be...closer?" She blushed at the word, but her blush quickly disappeared to be replaced by horror. "Do you not...like me like that? Is that the problem? I thought..."

"No, no, no." I stopped her mid-sentence. "I really do like you like that. That isn't the issue at all."

"Then what is?" she asked, frustration clear in her voice.

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. "You're still human, Bella. You don't realise how breakable and fragile you really are. I already struggle to control my natural instincts around you, if we were to become more intimate, I could crush you without even realising it."

Bella began to shake her head halfway through my little speech, sheer disbelief on her face.

"So what do you suggest then, Edward? Huh? I'm well aware of my weaknesses, but they're always going to be there, so where does that leave us?"

Her verbal attack completely surprised me. "Well, obviously it just means that we need to be more careful."

"More careful? _More_ careful, Edward?" She stalked forward and jabbed me on the chest with one finger. "We're already careful. We're so careful all the time. But relationships can't function on talking alone." She stepped back and wrung her hands. "I need more, Edward. I need...touch."

I stared at her.

I wasn't sure that I could give her what she wanted, what she would want in the future. I already struggled so much but I put it aside because a part of me loved her and wanted her to be happy. That she would want even more from me was something I hadn't considered.

"I don't know, Edward," she continued, brushing her hair back from her face. "I'm not saying that something has to happen straight away, but I want...more...and I'm willing to wait, but I need to know that you won't push me away in the future." She gave a nervous half-laugh.

I stepped closer and hesitantly reached out. I was relieved when Bella stepped back into my embrace, wrapping her arms around me. Taking a deep breath, Bella sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry," she apologised. "I don't mean to put pressure on you. I guess what Rosalie said earlier just got to me. My brain's been whirling ever since."

I frowned. Something about the way she said that raised my suspicions. Bella obviously had seen Rosalie earlier before she disappeared.

"What did she say?" I prompted.

"Just that unless I was willing to offer myself up to be turned into a vampire, you and I will never be able to go the distance. That we're too different what with me being human and you being a vampire. She thinks we're too incompatible to ever work."

Damn Rosalie for interfering!

Granted what she had told Bella was something I had considered time and time again, questioning whether it was right for us to even attempt a relationship like this, but it was never one that I thought that Bella had deliberated over.

"Bella, where is Rosalie?"

She drew back. "I told you, she went out."

"Yes, but where? She must have said," I pressed.

Bella looked at me suspiciously. "Why do you even want to know?"

"Because I want to talk to her," I explained. I also wanted to know why Bella had lied on her behalf. "It wasn't her place to say to you what she did and I want to speak with her about it."

Bella tilted her head and watched me carefully and in one of her sudden leaps of logic, she announced, "No, it's not just that. There's something else. If you just wanted to tell her to butt out, you would've done the same when everyone else talked to me about it as well."

I reeled as if from a body blow.

"Who else has talked to you about us in that respect?" I demanded to know.

Was this a conspiracy? It felt like it. I thought my family had gotten over Bella and I courting, but apparently they had all been trying to talk her out of being with me behind my back.

Bella appeared taken aback by my sudden anger. I didn't mean to frighten her, but my fury was mounting. And as my anger rose, so did her stubbornness.

"Don't be like that, Edward. Carlisle and Jasper have talked to me about problems we might face in the future, but I guess Rosalie put it in a way that I hadn't thought about before."

I saw red as she mentioned the one name I didn't want to hear.

Bella and I were together, but her closeness to my brother was something that had always grated on me. I snapped.

"Oh, of course the wonderful Jasper has an opinion on our relationship. Every time I turn around he's there, Bella, judging me and us. Do you know what it's like to know that he shares your room and probably spends all your time together trying to talk you into leaving me?"

"It's not like that," she protested hotly. "He just worries about me. Nothing more, nothing less. _You know that_. And we've always shared a room since I was little so don't start getting mad about that too."

"Why shouldn't I? My girlfriend is sharing a bed with another man. Why shouldn't I get angry about that?"

"We don't share a bed!" she screeched. "We just share the space so that he can step in if I have a nightmare or something."

Her reminder that part of the reason she had nightmares was my previous actions just served to incense me further. I was beyond the point of reason now.

"We're together now, Bella, but you won't let me in. If you need someone to hold you if you start screaming in the middle of the night, then why won't you let me be the one to hold you?" I questioned her fiercely.

"Because you won't come near me," she yelled. "You just said it, you think I'm fragile and delicate and will break so easily. You won't even sit with me for more than thirty minutes at a time, how do you expect to stay with me for an entire night?! You don't even hug me properly." She waved her hands in the air as she shouted out me.

"I'm trying not to kill you!" I shot back.

"_Oh, that's such bullshit_!"

My ire faded a little at the sound of Bella cursing. I had never heard her use such language before.

Bella was still on a roll though.

"It's total bullshit! Emmett doesn't break me every time he gives me hug. Or Carlisle. Or Esme. And telling me that I'm too breakable for sex is absolute crap as well! If you don't want to be with me, Edward, then just tell me that you don't want to be with me, but don't dress it up with lies about humans and vampires not being able to be intimate, because it's just garbage."

"It's not," I argued back.

"_It is!_" she disagreed. "Because if it wasn't, then Jasper and I would never have been able to-"

She cut herself off, clapping her hands over her mouth and staggering back, her eyes wide, but the damage was already done.

Hot rage flooded through me and I took a menacing step forward.

"Oh no, Bella. Don't stop now when you were just telling me how stupid I am. You and Jasper would never have been able to _what_? _Sleep together!_" I roared.

Grabbing the nearest thing I could lay my hands on, I threw it out the window, barely registering that my sofa was now I crumpled heap in the backyard. Charging forward, I grabbed Bella by the top of the arms, not thinking, just reacting. She screamed as I did so and the sound of her fear shocked me back into myself.

Seconds later I heard the crashing of trees as the family approached through the forest, clearly having heard her cry of distress.

I let go of Bella just as Emmett and Jasper jumped through the broken window, Emmett jerking me back away from Bella as my other brother immediately wrapped his arms around Bella who burst into tears. Carlisle and Esme followed them both, Carlisle joining Emmett in restraining me.

"What is going on? Someone answer me now."

We all stood there in my destroyed room, Bella and I both remaining silent.

Everything was falling to pieces and I didn't know if we would be able to put it back together again.

Bella sniffled and in that moment, I almost wanted to cry myself.


	25. Home Truths

**So here's the penultimate chapter of the story with only the epilogue left to go. It might make a few people question the direction I've taken this one in, but I hope you enjoy reading it none the less. Cheers for sticking with me through it all and thanks for the support.**

**Huge thanks go to elidunbigboot for her help with this chapter, and, as always, I don't own Twilight.**

**Home Truths**

**CPOV**

I sat in my office, listening to the rest of the household creep around me.

Esme was pottering about in the kitchen, no doubt making something to tempt Bella to eat for the first time that day. Bella was huddled in her room, soft sobs emerging from that direction every now and then. After we had cleaned up the upper floor of the house last night, she had fled to her bedroom and locked the door against all of the family, even Jasper. Following her example, Jasper and Edward had followed suit, Jasper displaying insolence in front of his brother that surprised even me. We had all heard the accusations Edward had made about his relations with Bella, but not knowing the whole of the argument, I could not understand how he drawn such an explosive conclusion.

Emmett and Rosalie were also confined to their separate rooms, much to his distress. My newest daughter had returned early this morning, the stench of blood and fear coating her clothes. The red dress spoke its own story. I couldn't help but feel disappointed that her desire for revenge had overwhelmed her conscience, but I was somewhat heartened that her eyes had remained golden. At least she had withstood the blood lust that assailed her body, although that was small consolation.

What surprised me the most about Rosalie's actions though, was that Bella had known about them and yet said nothing to anyone. From the garbled explanations of last night, it seemed that her and Edward's argument had begun over her unwillingness to divulge Rosalie's location to him.

It troubled me. So much troubled me lately and yet I felt that I was always a step behind.

There was only one way to get to the truth of the matter though, and since two of the people involved were currently barricaded in their rooms, it looked like I would have to confront the third.

"Jasper, could I speak with you, please."

I worded it politely, but it wasn't a request. I was done with all the secrecy, now I wanted answers.

There was a soft snick as he opened his bedroom door, and then a second later he rapped at the door to my study.

"Come in."

He slipped into the room and sat down opposite me. Despite my many talks with him over the years with regards to Bella's wellbeing, this was first time I had seen him looking genuinely concerned about my opinion, rather than just belligerent.

I stared at him for a moment. For once, he kept his eyes down.

There was no point being delicate. It hadn't gotten me anywhere in the past when I'd spoken with him about the dangers of his closeness to Bella.

"When did you sleep with her?"

He swallowed heavily. "Before the school year started, after her 17th birthday. She asked me to and I agreed."

"I'm sure you did." I couldn't keep the sarcasm from my voice and Jasper's eyes shot up to meet mine for the first time.

"It wasn't like that," he bit out.

I raised my eyebrows.

"She wanted to know what it was like and she wanted her first time to be with someone she trusted. There was nothing sordid about it. I didn't coerce her into propositioning me. Surely it's better that it was me, someone who loves and respects her, rather than some horny, human boy just looking to get his rocks off."

If that last part was supposed to appeal to my better nature, it failed.

"It would've been more natural," I hissed. "It would have been a normal human relationship. Bella is not a stupid girl, Jasper. She's well aware of how teenage boys act – more aware than some girls – and I think she's more than capable of avoiding a relationship with someone only looking for physical gratification from her."

I had been gradually leaning forward as I argued with him and I now sat back.

My anger was now met by Jasper's.

"I only want what's best for her," he growled, bolting up onto his feet and slamming his hands on the desk.

I forced myself to remain calm. "And what if you're not what's best for her?" I asked.

He tilted his head to the side, considering me, and for a second my body tensed, preparing itself for an attack. Instead of leaping across the desk though, he abruptly sat down again, his hands clenched into fists. I could feel the rage and protectiveness vibrating off him and it was several moments before the power emotions waned. His hands slowly uncurled and his eyes faded back from the aggressive black to the more natural golden.

Now that he was in a more reasonable mood, I continued. "What if none of us are what's best for her?"

He frowned. "You think I should have kept my distance?"

"I think all of us should have been more careful when it came to Bella. But yes, I feel that I should have made you take a step back from Bella when I first became worried about your relationship. The same goes for her relationship with Edward."

Jasper gave me a bitter smirk. "Why didn't you then?"

I sighed. "Because you told me that there was nothing to worry about. So did Edward. So did Bella, for that matter. I've always let you all make your own way in life, offering guidance when I could, but leaving you all to make your own decisions. Now I see more clearly than ever that I shouldn't have allowed that freedom, especially when it comes to Bella."

"But..."

"She's _human_, Jasper," I interrupted him. "Human. It's something we all know and yet it's something that we put aside and ignore so easily. I'm beginning to think that maybe we've damaged Bella just by our presence in her life."

He shook his head. "She's not damaged, Carlisle," he disagreed with me. "We gave her a home."

"But what kind of home is it?" I immediately shot back. "A loving one, yes, but not a healthy one." This time I shook my head. "Definitely not a healthy one for an impressionable young girl."

Jasper scoffed. "You're talking like we've ruined her life."

"Not ruined her life, no. I wouldn't go that far." I ran a hand through my hair as I tried to explain how I felt about the situation. "But I think she doesn't see the world as she should anymore."

Jasper leaned back, steepling his fingers under his chin. "Are you just saying this because I've had more influence in her life that you ever did?"

Anger welled up in me. It seemed to be a natural reaction lately, especially when it came to my sons. I actually had to force my jaw to unclench before I could answer him.

"I'm saying this because I think you've raised her to be a wonderful vampire. If she was turned tomorrow she would be perfectly moulded in your image, Jasper. I doubt even you would be able to contain her as a newborn if she wasn't so devoted to you."

Well, that certainly made him shut up. He was now staring at me, mouth open, eyes wide.

I had his undivided attention for once.

"We may not think that we've harmed Bella in any way, but her actions last night prove that she's becoming more like us than she should be. When she was worried about King and his gang, she could have told myself or Esme, she could have gone to the police or the school for protection – they already suspected them – but she chose to contact you instead. I agree that those boys needed to pay for what they did, but Bella specifically chose you to ask for help because she knew that any justice you meted out would be lethal."

"They needed to die," Jasper protested half-heartedly.

"They needed to be contained, and I'm ashamed that I didn't recognise that at the time," I spat out. "I let my fear for Bella and our secret to taint my judgment, but that's my fault, not yours. This business with Rosalie and Edward though..." Words failed me for a moment and Jasper shifted uncomfortably. "She deliberately let Rosalie kill that boy last night. She knew what she was going to do and didn't stop her."

Jasper scoffed. "As if she _could_ have stopped her."

"Not stopped her, no," I agreed with him. "But she could have called one of us or told Edward and we would have taken the appropriate measures to halt Rosalie's actions."

My companion leaned forward again, his brow furrowed.

"Rosalie deserved her vengeance," he swore vehemently.

I pursed my lips. "I'm sure you and I will always disagree on the issue of revenge. But what's done is done and I can only hope that it wasn't all for nothing and that she received some form of closure from it." I rested my elbows on the desk in front of me. "What I am worried about though is that Bella's lack of intervention shows a lack of compassion and adherence to human values. She barely blinks when we mention hunting and the prospect of humans dying...," Jasper began to interrupt but I held up my hand to stop him, "...no matter whether they deserve it or not, is something that doesn't appear to bother her anymore. That's a dangerous route to go down, for anyone, but especially for a young girl."

Jasper's jaw clenched. "She's not you, Carlisle, or some idealised version of a human. She has her faults like everyone else and she's entitled to them."

This was something I could get my teeth into.

"But how many of her faults have been compounded by our own morals? We act human, Jasper. We live with them, work with them, go to school with them, but we're only ever pretending to be the same. We have a family, but it's not a family in the human sense. The way we think and act and react is so different to ordinary people. We've given Bella so much more freedom than she would have had if her parents had remained alive. She's been allowed to do what she wants and go where she wants, and we've indulged her. We've made her selfish."

Jasper wasn't going to accept that. He leapt from his seat and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt.

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!"

I wanted to react, wanted to show him that I wasn't just going to take his anger lying down, but I forced myself to relax in his grasp. Fighting wasn't going to get us anywhere.

"Why not?" I asked him calmly. "It's true. Vampires are selfish creatures by nature and we've made her one of us. Her relationship with Edward is still so new, barely months old, but her reaction to him turning her down and telling her no is incredibly worrying." There was something I had to know. "When was the last time you told her no, Jasper?"

He stared at me for a minute and then another, and finally released me and backed away from the desk. Moving incredibly slowly, he sat back down and carefully folded his arms. I followed his example and sat back down.

A heavy silence fell over the study.

Finally, Jasper spoke. "She doesn't ask for anything I'm not willing to give."

"No," I agreed, "but bad habits that don't seem so terrible in a child or a teenager will be unacceptable in an adult and we can't shield Bella from the realities of life forever."

I could see that he was coming to understand what I was trying to tell him, but his loyalty to Bella held him firm against me.

"You can't blame her for that, Carlisle."

"I don't."

He stilled in surprise, before blinking slowly.

"I blame us for that. Myself, Esme, you, Emmett and even Edward to some degree. After what happened with her parents, the Volturi and the vampires that mistreated her, we all overcompensated. We wanted her to feel safe, to feel accepted within our family, even though it wasn't one that she would have chosen, and in turn we wanted to feel accepted by her."

It was painful to admit to my failings, to admit all our failings. Downstairs I could hear Esme gasping as she tried to control her feelings, crying in the only way she could. Emmett and Rosalie had stilled in their rooms, an unnatural quiet echoing from the direction of their rooms. Edward was silent too, but then none of this was a shock to him - he would have picked my thoughts out of my head earlier this morning when I was considering the situation.

"So we've cosseted her, spoilt her, never left her to stand on her own two feet, never allowed her to learn." This last part was the hardest to say. "So now we need to stop and draw a line between us and her."

Jasper was holding his head in his hands. "We can't just abandon her, Carlisle," he said bleakly. "We're her family. We're all she has left."

"And she'll still have us," I promised him. "But we have to stop treating her like she's a part of our coven; I know we call it a family and it is, but it's not a human family, it's a vampire coven. There needs to be a line between us as vampires and her as a human. That means new rules in the house for all of us."

A small shimmer of curiosity crossed my skin and I met Jasper's eyes, wondering what had caused the emotion.

"May I ask why you chose to speak to me about this now?" he asked.

I clasped my hands together.

"I wanted to speak to you before I spoke with Bella. Even if she agrees with me about the changes that need to be made, she will still look to you for guidance. Despite mine and Esme's love for her, she has always seen you as her primary caregiver, and I needed you to be on side with this."

Jasper cocked his head to one side. "And if I don't agree with it – if I'm not on your side?"

"You will be," I stated confidently.

His mouth quirked in question.

"Because I believe you really do love Bella," I explained, "and you want the best for her, even if that isn't us."

His eyes darted away from mine and I allowed him the time to gather his thoughts. The grandfather clock in the corner of the room ticked away uncomfortably loudly.

"What do you want me to do?" he eventually enquired.

I took a deep, unneeded breath. "I think firstly, I would like you to fetch Bella for me, and then I think the family should perhaps go for a hunt while I speak with her."

He nodded once and then turned towards the door.

I felt the need to say something else, to reassure him.

"It's the right thing to do, Jasper."

He paused and then turned the handle sharply.

"I guess we'll find out soon."

**JPOV**

Carlisle's words rang through my head as I hunted.

Despite his request that we all go out as a family, we had divided up quickly once in the woods. The emotions my family were radiating at the moment were pretty toxic and the gamut of fear, anger, guilt and depression were making my hands itch. What I wouldn't give right now for a nice, furious newborn to tear apart and vent my anger on.

But then I supposed that that was the kind of violent impulse that Carlisle was talking about Bella picking up on.

At first I had been pissed off during his little talk. I had known when I agreed to it that he would be disappointed if he ever found out about Bella and I sleeping together, but that didn't stop me from feeling that it was none of his business. His comment about Bella as a vampire though...

That had hit me hard.

More importantly, it had made me actually listen to his concerns and analyse them.

He was right.

I had never noticed it before, just never considered how far from human life Bella had grown up in. We had all done our best for her and it had been enough, but it also hadn't been normal for members of the weaker species.

It was a galling realisation. I felt like I had failed her. I was pretty sure everyone else felt the same as well. And yet, we had given her the best possible home that we could, and surely that was miles better than the death that had awaited her otherwise.

Without noticing, I had drifted closer to the house and seconds later Carlisle appeared in front of me.

"Where are the others?"

I shrugged. "We split up after we left."

He nodded thoughtfully. "I've spoken with Bella. She's rather upset right now. It might be wise for you to speak with her later."

I glanced towards the house and the lone light shining in the corner window on the first floor.

Carlisle stepped forward and clapped me on the back. "I'm going to go and find Esme."

I nodded at him and watched him sprint away. There was nothing left now between myself and Bella. Despite this knowledge, I didn't run to her. I felt positively old for the first time as I climbed the stairs, walked down the corridor and knocked on her door.

"Come in."

I stuck my head around the door, before entering. "Hey."

"Hey," Bella greeted me back. She looked truly pathetic, huddled in a ball under the covers on her bed, misery leeching from her.

Crossing the room, I sat down next to her and rested my hand on her covered knee.

"Did Carlisle talk to you?" I asked.

She sniffled and nodded. "He thinks that we shouldn't share a room anymore."

I should have known that one was coming.

"I think that would be wise," I said carefully.

The room was quiet for a while, save for Bella's breathing and heartbeat, but not silent. She was thinking hard about something – no doubt analysing her talk with Carlisle – I could practically hear her mind whirring. My curiosity over what had been said was growing though. Carlisle wouldn't have been as hard on Bella as he was with me or the rest of the family, but then, we had the luxury of seeing the bigger picture.

"I'm going to break up with Edward," she eventually whispered. I was quite grateful in that moment for my advanced hearing because I never would have heard her otherwise.

"Is that right?" I forced myself to stay detached. This wasn't about my feelings on the matter; this was about Bella's life.

"Yeah." She reached up and pushed her hair back behind her ear so her face was uncovered. "I was thinking about it before, but speaking to Carlisle has just convinced me that it's the right thing to do, even though he didn't ask me to."

"Taking Rosalie's advice, huh?"

Unlike the rest of the family, Bella had made me aware of all of the events from the previous evening, including her conversation with Rosalie as well as her fight with Edward.

"She was right," she answered hoarsely. "It couldn't go anywhere, not in the long term, not without me being changed." She sat up and met my eyes, her own were teary. "I don't want that to happen. I love you all, but I don't want it."

I nodded solemnly. "I know you don't. I'll make sure it doesn't ever happen."

She offered me a weak smile and shuffled across the bed so she was sat next to me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders as she laid her head on my shoulders. It must have been cold for her to be pressed against me like this, but she didn't flinch away from me. That told me more than anything else so far that she was far too close to us, if she couldn't even feel the difference between us anymore.

"I didn't realise," she said, "just how much I had forgotten about my parents."

I froze underneath briefly and then forced myself to relax.

"I mean, I have pictures of them," she continued. "I've got the ones that you and Emmett went and got for me, but it's like my memory cut itself off after the attack and everything else, and I can only really remember how things have been since I came here."

"The brain works in strange ways," I reassured her. "It shuts down and blocks memories and feelings in order for you to survive. It protects you."

"But maybe it hasn't," she argued softly. "Carlisle reminded me earlier of my parents and how comfortable I had become around you all, and suddenly it was like I remembered just how scared of you all I had been. I was so afraid that you all would attack or torture me one day, play around with your food like Victoria and the others had done, and that you would keep me isolated and locked away forever. When it didn't happen, I think my head blocked out all the bad memories and it was as if I'd been a part of the family forever and it didn't bother me anymore."

"You got used to us," I suggested.

"Maybe." She didn't sound convinced.

Her hands twisted in her lap as she thought. I just waited for her to get her thoughts straight in her head.

"I remember sometimes," she eventually said. "Like when Rosalie was changed or when Edward and I fought last night. I remember then how scared I was, and still am occasionally."

Her words hurt in a way that I never thought they would.

I too remembered her first coming to the house, how much derision I held for her natural human weakness. I had grown to love her, we all had, but the word Carlisle had used for the situation rang through my head.

Unnatural.

No matter our feelings for Bella or hers for us, the whole situation was just unnatural.

"You were scared of all of us," I mused, "to begin with."

She pushed away from me at that and I released her to sit upright. To my surprise she smacked me playfully on the arm.

"Not you, silly," she chided. "I was never scared of _you_, or Emmett either."

Of course she wasn't scared of Emmett, the gentle giant; he had adored her before the rest of us. But _me_?

"You weren't?" I checked.

"No," she confirmed. "The first memory I have of you is from when you tried to kill me that time and Emmett and Edward stopped you." She frowned. "It's strange, but I think after that I always knew where I stood with you. I always knew you were willing to kill me and so I never really worried that you would."

She smiled at something in her head and I blinked at her strange logic.

"Everyone else was just too nice to me. I didn't trust that they wouldn't hug me one minute and then break my neck the next."

I hummed. "I remember how jumpy you were."

"I got used to you all eventually. I never realised though that that for you to truly be my family forever, I would have to become a vampire. It just wasn't something that ever occurred to me."

"To be honest, Bells, it didn't really occur to any of us either," I admitted. "We knew that we'd have to make adjustments for you to live with us, but I don't think any of us were looking towards the future." I smiled at her and she tried to smile back. "What Carlisle says is true though. We are all never changing and it's not something that I think any of us would've wished for ourselves, or anything that we'd wish on you unless you were dying."

Her emotions were still all over the place so I reached out and pulled her towards me once more, wrapping her back up inside the covers. Sighing, I rested my head against hers, and felt as she calmed down.

What I had to say next would be hard, but it was necessary.

"You do know what that means though – not becoming one of us, I mean?"

"Yes," she murmured.

I said it anyway. "Someday, not now or even soon, but someday, you're going to have to give us up."

The distress we both felt in that moment was almost overwhelming.

"You're going to have to give us up and we're going to have to let you go. If you want to live, that is."

A part of me wanted her to change her mind, but I knew that she would never want it, just as I knew that their family would never allow it, not unless she was dying.

"I want to live," she whispered faintly. Clearing her throat, she tried again, louder this time. "I want to live, Jasper."

The force of her conviction hit me and I swallowed heavily. Gripping her tighter, I pressed a hard kiss to her head.

"Then you will," I promised her. "I'll make sure you do."

Bella wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me tightly, and I swore to myself that I would do my best to ensure that she had the best life possible.

There was time to grieve for losing her later on. For now, I would plan for the future.

Hers and mine.

Separately.


	26. Life

**Well, after three and a half years, I kind of thought I'd never be saying this, but here's the last ever chapter of The Cullen Girl. I feel quite sad about it really.**

**I'd like to take the opportunity in the meantime though to say a massive thank you everyone who's read the story, from those who have stuck with me through thick and thin and an inconsistent posting schedule, to those who have only recently started reading. Thank you so much for reading and in some cases reviewing. I really appreciate your interest in my story.**

**I really hope that regardless of your feelings on the last chapter and the twist on the story's ending that you enjoy reading this epilogue and cheers for sticking with me.**

**For the last time for this story, I must say that unfortunately, I don't own Twilight.**

**Life**

**BPOV**

I sighed heavily as I crossed the campus, rolling my neck in an effort to get rid of the cramp that had taken up residence midway through my last exam. Thank God they were over finally. Hopefully I'd never have to see another essay question again. College was definitely a much bigger step up in work than they let you know if high school, although thankfully the pain was nearly over.

Now the whole summer stretched in front of me. Well, most of it anyway.

I had three weeks free now until I left on vacation to Barbados with my roommate, Hannah. We had been originally intending to go to Mexico with a bunch of people in our class, but Jasper had begged me to reconsider the destination, and with Esme and Carlisle deciding to spring for the holiday in the Caribbean, I gave in.

Before then, I was just planning on hanging out and relaxing. This last semester had just been brutal.

As I walked, I noticed that the clouds up ahead were getting blacker. It had been scorching all week – typical for when I was trapped inside – and it looked like it was now going to thunderstorm. I picked up my pace, hoping to get back home before it started raining.

Suddenly, I was grabbed from behind and thrown in the air.

Shrieking loudly, I barely heard my brother's complaint.

"Jesus, Bells. Burst my eardrums, why don't you?"

He caught me easily and once I was safely back on the ground again, I spun and slapped his chest angrily, for all the good it did.

"Emmett! What the hell?"

He smiled down at me and shrugged. "You looked like you thinking too hard a minute ago and needed a break."

"By being tossed in the air?"

His grin got wider. "How else?"

I scowled, but I couldn't stay mad at him for long. I opened my arms and let him pull me into a hug, lifting my feet back up off the ground. When he let me go, I looped my arm through his.

"So this is an unexpected visit. Last I heard you and Rosalie were travelling."

He started leading me unerringly towards my apartment.

"We were, but the family's thinking of moving again, so we came back to help decide where to go, otherwise we'll end up living in Alaska near the sisters again and I really can't take any more arguments between Rosie and Kate. It was bad enough when she was a newborn. They'd tear each other apart for real this time now that she's got some of Jasper's fighting moves down."

"How is Jasper?" I asked. Although I hadn't seen him in person since last summer, I still talked to him most weeks on the phone, but he could hide so much with his voice that I was never really sure how truthful he was being.

"He's good. Still moping that he's not up here with you, but I think that's just so he can scare away all the horndogs wanting to defile you."

I shot him an amused glance. "He does know that I was defiled a long time ago and by him at that, right?"

Emmett scowled at that. "Yeah, and believe me I took it out on his hide when I got the chance."

"Emmett!"

His scowl melted away to be replaced by an easy grin again. "What?" He pretended innocence. "I was only ever told that I wasn't allowed to beat Edward up anymore. No-one ever mentioned that I couldn't take Jasper on."

I shook my head, but didn't bother protesting anymore. Emmett would continue to pick fights regardless of what I said, just because he could.

"He's thinking of going to college though this year coming up, instead of just repeating high school again. He says that he can do just as well integrating with the humans in college instead of school, but I think he's just realised that nothing can live up to the epicness of your final year in high school."

I cringed at the memory. In my efforts to spend more time with my human friends, rather than my vampire family, I had somehow ended up in a situation where Mike Newton became convinced that we were dating. Even though we weren't. I subsequently spent most of senior year trying to avoid him, something Emmett found hilarious.

The last laugh was on him as I forced him to be my Prom date given that no other guys dreamt of messing with 'Newton's girl'. Rosalie had very graciously agreed to loan me her partner for the night, although my efforts to embarrass him throughout the course of the evening didn't work. Emmett was just not capable of shame in any way.

"Anyway, he's thinking of enrolling and we'll probably all join him if we're going to be living together again. Can you imagine it? Me at college? We've only ever done high school before, or at least I have. I could never be bothered to stick around for more academic crap in the past, but Rosie likes the idea since she hasn't had the opportunity before, so I think I'll sign up."

I reached up on my tip toes to ruffle his hair. "Yeah, I can just imagine you as a rowdy frat boy."

"Damn straight." He grinned again.

We walked along quietly for the next couple of minutes, until I eventually broke down and asked.

"So how come you've come for a visit today? Has something happened?"

Emmett stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, forcing people to quickly change paths to move around us.

"No, nothing's happened," he reassured me. "Just Esme told me that today was the last day of finals for you and you've probably got plans, but I wanted to come and say congratulations on making it through college." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "And I missed you," he said it in a rush so I nearly didn't hear it, but once I deciphered the tangle of words, I smiled.

"I missed you too." I pulled him into a hug and we just stood there for a minute holding each other.

"It's not the same without you in the house," he told me. "Carlisle, Esme and Jasper are just moping around, waiting for you to come home in the summer, and Eddie's miserable and whiny as ever."

"Don't be mean, Emmett." I frowned up at him.

Edward was a bit of a sore subject for me. After our massive fight, we had both agreed that maybe it would be better for us to not be together. I felt bad about pushing him beyond his comfort zone and he felt bad about nearly attacking me. All in all, it made for a very awkward year and a half after the break up. I could understand now why everyone was so concerned about us dating in the first place. Living with your ex is not something I'd recommend.

Emmett stuck his tongue out at me, but wisely chose not to mention Edward again.

"Anyway, I know you've got some time between now and your vacation so I thought what could be better than coming all the way to New York to see my favourite sister."

"You're here for the whole three weeks?" I asked, excitement beginning to build within me.

"Yep. Well, not just me. Rosie's here as well, and Jasper was thinking of coming up at the weekend. Carlisle and Esme say that they expect to see you after you get back from Barbados."

My smile was so wide that my face was starting to ache. Emmett grinned easily back at me.

"So you're not mad then?"

"Mad?" I didn't have a clue what he was talking about. "Why would I be mad?"

He shrugged and took my hand. We started walking again.

"I dunno. You've just got this new life now away from us all, and it's one that I know you've worked really hard to build. I know you love us all, me especially since I'm so awesome, but that doesn't mean that you necessarily want us here getting in the way of your new life."

"Emmett," I chided him. I knew he wouldn't be satisfied with me just saying that I was happy to see him so I thought carefully about what to say. "I know things were uncomfortable in the house after I spoke to Carlisle that time." There was no point in clarifying what 'that time' was; everyone in the family was well aware of the implications of that time. "And what with trying to be more human and all, I didn't spend as much time with you in my last year at home as I would have otherwise. I do regret that even if it was necessary."

I squeezed his hand.

"There were some things that I needed to get used to again before coming to college and living with other people, like not talking about your gifts or your hunting habits so casually, or getting used to not being the only one at the dining table who's actually eating. Small stuff like that, stuff I wouldn't even think about at home. But I would never want you to think that I wouldn't want to see you or any of the rest of the family because of it. I love you guys and that's never going to change. Besides, I'm your sister remember? You're stuck with me."

I willed him to understand. I needed to be able to grow up, to stand on my own two feet without one of the family constantly standing by ready to catch me if I fell. Yet, in spite of all that, or maybe because of it, I also needed to be able to still be a part of the family, despite all the differences between us that the last four years apart had emphasized.

Luckily, Emmett picked up on all the unspoken things I wanted to say.

"I know. You're still a Cullen girl, huh? Whatever did we do to deserve such hardship?"

I gave a fake affronted gasp and slapped his arm. He just smiled down at me.

As we turned the corner, I could see Rosalie's statuesque blond figure leaning against a red convertible outside my apartment block. She was receiving a large number of admiring glances from passers-by, but clearly hearing our approach, she had turned her head in our direction and didn't appear to notice the stares.

Straightening up, she raised a hand in greeting. I waved back, but Emmett went a step further, disentangling his arm from mine, he bounded over to her and threw her around in the air while she shrieked and batted at him.

I laughed at the outraged look on her face and Emmett's attempts to placate her.

No matter what happened in the future - with me, my family, or my new mostly-human lifestyle - it was nice to know that some things never changed.

And never would.


End file.
